In for the kill

Al that flying duck practice paid off nicely with this. I know you were lucky here, but I also know you were experienced and ready.

Well done.

Super detail, love the look at the eye decent lighting considering.

- Luke

Great flight shot. That doesn't happen by accident. I can't imagine weilding a 500mm + TC on a quick fly by and coming away with this. Awesome!

Very neat angle, Ron, and superb detail. I like this one a lot.

You post more flight shots of raptors, than I even see, let alone point a camera at!

Very well done, Ron. I'd be proud to have such a capture in my portfolio.

Cheers,

Carol

Great detail around the face Ron - well done

cheers
Rob

Great flight capture!

Sweet One Ron

Ken Archer

Great capture of your rendez-vous .
Giorgio

Good reaction to get this, I like how the wing shadows bring out the head of the bird, well done.

I'm impressed with the detail in both extremes of light here, Ron. Nice job, that and being ready for unexpected action.

I want to thank everyone for their comments on this image. It is the fact that this is almost FF that allows the details to be so finely rendered in both the bright and shadowed areas of the bird. There just is no substitute for getting close to your subject if you want the maximum detail that your camera and lens are capable of producing to show in your final images. In this case, I wish everyone could see the full-sized TIFF. The detail in the feathers and eye are stunning to me. Web compression takes its toll as does downsizing for NPN. Thanks again.

sweet shot, Ron. can only imagine what the details look like at 100%. nice work on the exposure here. I like your logo, but think it might look better if it were a little more transparent.

I'll be interested to hear how you feel about the 1D4 (AF and ISO improvement, but only 1.3x crop) vs the 7D (1.6 crop factor) once you've had a little more time with the 1D4.

Great work Ron, you managed the tough light well.
Nice & sharp..I especially like the flight angle with the bird moving towards the viewer.

Ron, it amazes me that you were able to get such a nice photo of this hawk that seems to have suddenly appeared. There are a couple of red-shouldered hawks that hang out in a tree across from my office window, but they're always moving so fast that I can only dream of getting an photo of them.

On a side note, I see that you took this image with manual exposure. I would like to kindly ask you to chime in on my "Manual Exposure vs Aperture Priority" topic in the Bird Photography Forum if you have the time.

Outstanding!

Ron,

My first thought was exactly what Jeff Loomis said below. This is a great action shot with terrific detail but how did you manage to pan and focus a lens that size with the hawk ripping by? This would require surgical precision.

Great work!

Wonderful look at this hawk's eye and great flight pose Ron. You have the skills to photograph speedy flying ducks and that skill is what got you this shot far more than luck.