Emirati falconer I

Emirati Falconer II

Emirati Falconer III

Falconry – in the United Arab Emirates

The sports of the Sheiks

Falconry has a long and traditional conjunction with the Emirates what you can see for example in the emblem of the United Arab Emirates. Especially for the Sheiks the falconry is more than a sport as they do everything for their falcons and can also afford the sometimes 30 or 60.000 Euro expensive birds. Witnessing a training session I got a feeling of this majestic animals and their flight skills. With over 300 km/h they fly around and rushing down, centimeters above the ground (see the spectaculous picture where the falcon is awhirling sand and feathers) catching their prey with their claws. Each time the falconer is pulling the prey a bit tighter until he will let the falcon catch it. An amazing spectacle!

And not only the falcon was trying to catch it- also I tried several times until I got the right picture in the half-dark sundown, partly against the sun, never knowing exactly when the falcon is rushing down….

Picture 1: Camera: Nikon D4 | Lenses: 70-200 mm f/2.8 | Apertures: f 3.2  | Shutter speed:  1/400 sec | ISO 320 | Focal length: 125  mm

Picture 2: Camera: Nikon D4 | Lenses: 70-200 mm f/2.8 | Apertures: f 2.8  | Shutter speed:  1/1000 sec | ISO 2000 | Focal length: 70  mm

Picture 3: Camera: Nikon D4 | Lenses: 70-200 mm f/2.8 | Apertures: f 2.8  | Shutter speed:  1/1000 sec | ISO 2000 | Focal length: 155  mm

Software:  Camra Raw, Photoshop CS6 | NikSoftware Viveza, SilverEfexPro, Outputsharpener