Rough-legged Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted December 15, 2011859 views21 comments

I was looking down on this hawk from an elevated road when it decided to take off. It actually flew toward me - another time when I wish I hadn't had the tc on as I clipped a lot of body parts while it was in full flight.

7D, 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 12/8/11, minor exposure adjustment in ACR, cropped to 53% of original image, sharpened bird and some of perch, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, not baited, set up or called in

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on December 15, 2011 at 7:03 PM

Ron, another a-mazing action shot, congrats!!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on December 15, 2011 at 8:14 PM

Another absolute beauty Ron. Love the raised wings.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on December 15, 2011 at 9:06 PM

Love the colors and wingspread. A beautiful image Ron.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on December 15, 2011 at 9:11 PM

Nice extension from the hawk you are getting here and good lighting. Looks like the TC also made your BG a little jagged

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on December 15, 2011 at 9:14 PM

Ron: A beautiful capture of a magnificent bird. I really like the full up wing position. While the background is pleasing, it seems to be a bit on the noisy side. A round of NR on that would make this even stronger. Very nice image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 15, 2011 at 9:32 PM

Where's the "green with envy" glif when I need one? This is terrific. I love the pose, wing position, setting, aqnd harmonious colors.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 15, 2011 at 10:11 PM

Very nice flight pose with the wings up and a wondeful display of feather patterns. The wings look longer on this hawk than other for some reason or it could be the way they are straight up. I like the eye contact on this as well, nice job in getting this shot Ron, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Mark Schiebelbein on December 15, 2011 at 10:49 PM

Good timing getting the full extension on the wings. Nice eye contact as well.

Registered on November 8, 2008, 55 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on December 16, 2011 at 12:19 AM

I'd say catching this WITH the TC was well worth missing a few full flight shots!
Gorgeous pose here, tack-sharp, great BG and even eye-contact!
Beautiful!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on December 16, 2011 at 12:28 AM

Love the extended wings on this one Ron and beautiful light! Congrats on a nice piece!

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on December 16, 2011 at 5:58 AM

A great shot Ron. Love these hawks. They are super attractive birds. Great position and I love the habitat. I like the BG. Not sure about the noise. To me the BG in the larger image does not have the typical grainy type of noise I am used to seeing when higher ISO settings are used. ISO 500 is not high for the 7D. Again, I like the look of the BG and not sure NR would do anything given what I am seeing in the BG.

Overall a sweet shot.

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

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on December 16, 2011 at 8:42 AM

Sweet light, take-off pose and detail on this one Ron... awesome work!

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 16, 2011 at 10:16 AM

Ron, this is great. Awesome pose, lighting, & a complimentary background...what more could you ask for?

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 16, 2011 at 11:41 AM

awesome pose and a great setting, Ron. bg is a little odd, I agree with Ron B that it doesn't seem like noise that I'm used to in the 7D. sure would love to have some opportunities with these guys.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 16, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone. Mia was with me and has virtually the same shot that I've posted here. Her background looks just like mine. She says it doesn't look like noise and she thinks the "scratchiness" of the background might be caused by all the thin, ragged tamarisk twigs back there. I did no processing on the background at all.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on December 16, 2011 at 4:04 PM

Very nice one of this balancing act, Ron. I rarely get anything but fence posts with these guys. We seem to have an abundance of them here again this year, though. The other day in a 3.5 hour drive we counted 56 different Roughies.........not many willing to cooperate, though.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on December 16, 2011 at 9:56 PM

Ron said:

She says it doesn't look like noise and she thinks the "scratchiness" of the background might be caused by all the thin, ragged tamarisk twigs back there.

OK, maybe it isn't noise. I did a little quick processing on the larger version. Whether it is noise or not, I believe it looks better with NR applied to soften whatever is causing the "scratchiness" of the background.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on December 17, 2011 at 3:29 PM

Sweet eye contact and wings up position here Ron

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 18, 2011 at 1:42 PM

Wonderful wing position and eye contact, Ron.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on December 18, 2011 at 2:43 PM

Sweet image Ron.

Love the wing position and eye contact

Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on December 19, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Awesome image, Ron! Great detail in the feathers, and really nice look from the hawk. Nice catchlights in his eyes, too! I love the wing position! Overall a really cool image!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments