Red-shouldered Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted January 1, 2011145 views16 comments

Sugar Land TX. Day after Christmas. Same creek as the Egret with fish.

D3 ISO 320. 300/2.8 with 2x tc. f5.6 1/800s. Handheld. Natural Light. About 70% FF. Cropped to vertical.

I walked very close to this hawk. He was across a small stream from me, but let me get very close and take a LOT of images before flying away. I liked this one best because of the upward gaze.

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 1, 2011 at 11:33 PM

Beautiful pose and details here Angela, some fill flash would have helped to soften those shadows on the chest but it's beautiful as shot too.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Gerard Satherley on January 2, 2011 at 4:42 AM

Great eye contact and details Angela. It would have been better without the shadows, still an excellent image.

Registered on December 17, 2010, 2 Posts, 14 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on January 2, 2011 at 7:57 AM

I really like this Angela-nice pose and great detail.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 2, 2011 at 8:26 AM

Beautiful clarity and detail -- really awesome clarity.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 2, 2011 at 8:47 AM

Very nice as posted. Excellent detail and exposure. Nice pose. The shadows don't both me with such a strong subject and I'm glad you didn't use fill flash here as you'd lose of the natural look that way.

If this is a vertical segment out of a horizontal frame then your crop is much greater than your estimate. The remaining detail shows how good the original capture was here.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 2, 2011 at 10:13 AM

Very nice detail for such a large crop Angela. I agree with Richard about the fill flash and think I prefer it without one. Especially since you kept the shadows off the head and the head turn is very nice.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on January 2, 2011 at 11:14 AM

Angela, What lovely detail. Hi like how the hawk's head is framed by the branches.

Great capture.

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 2, 2011 at 11:34 AM

Love the shot Angela. Very natural looking with good detail and sharpness. I too vote against the use of fill flash in this shot. Has nice depth without it. I agree with Rich that if this is a vertical from a horizontal in-camera capture as you state, than this is a much larger crop than 30%, but the D3 holds some great detail no matter. A very nice shot Angela.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on January 2, 2011 at 12:07 PM

100% agree with Nate. Awesome detail!

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Geoffrey Baker on January 2, 2011 at 12:49 PM

A great capture

Well done.

Geoff.

Registered on August 20, 2010, 192 Posts, 980 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on January 2, 2011 at 1:19 PM

Excellent pose with superb detail. The shadows don't bother me at all.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on January 2, 2011 at 1:35 PM

Angela, I really like the rich colors here. Nice eye contact making this a good profile image.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 2, 2011 at 4:03 PM

Richard-you are right ratio upside down. This is 30% of FF, not 70%.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on January 2, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on January 2, 2011 at 8:02 PM

This is a gorgeous image. Such personality in the head position. That shadow doesn't bother me a bit. If you want cloning practice you could ....never mind I like it just the way it is. The twigs set the scene

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 7, 2011 at 5:29 PM

Catching up from Xmas break, excellent shot, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments