"Prey . . . . what prey?

Gallery: AvianPosted December 16, 2011253 views19 comments

This Red-tailed Hawk image was originally taken over 3 years ago and has since become the most visited photo on my website. Shot at a local wildlife refuge, I was in my car driving it's auto tour route when I came upon this hawk while he was having lunch a freshly caught vole or field mouse. With my car approaching he spread his tail and wing feathers to hide or "mantle" his prey to keep from having it taken by another. Lucky for him I had already eaten and wasn't interested. I always felt that I had gotten too close before spotting him and as a result the original image was very crowded. I decided to rework and try to improve it by adding an inch or two of canvas on all sides and also to clone out a metal rod and eye ring that was thru the post at the bottom.

canon 20D
canon 600mm f4.L IS USM
F/7.1 -2 1/400 ISO 100
auto window beanbag rest, original raw image reworked in CS5, LR3, NIKs suite

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on December 16, 2011 at 12:31 PM

Craig, I can see why this image is the most visited on your site. From the look in its eye, you were not to welcome there during its meal. I have not seen the image before you changes but you have really done this raptor justice. I like the eye contact and the feather detail and pose.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 16, 2011 at 12:31 PM

Craig, I wouldn't have known about the processing you described just by looking at this. Nice capture & good processing as well!

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

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 16, 2011 at 1:12 PM

A very dramatic pose with great eye contact for the viewer.

Can you point us to the previous version (or add it in a comment) for comparison? I think it would be interesting to see.

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

Comment posted by Craig Strand on December 16, 2011 at 1:20 PM

This is the original version of this image as mentioned taken and processed over 3 yrs ago.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on December 16, 2011 at 3:02 PM

Thanks for adding the original. Nice rework 3 years later.

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

Comment posted by David Williams on December 16, 2011 at 3:55 PM

Beautiful shot/pose, Craig. The rework is much better on my monitor......good job.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on December 16, 2011 at 5:17 PM

Stunning image Craig. Wonderful to catch him while he was hiding his prey. Thanks for posting the original, while it was great this is much better.
May

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 16, 2011 at 5:33 PM

Fantastic! Excellent work on the rework!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on December 16, 2011 at 5:33 PM

Great to see how you worked on the original.! Great improvement.
Good stuff.
JohnR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on December 16, 2011 at 9:59 PM

Wow! What a neat wing position from this red-tail, it always looks so cool when they mantle. I hope I can get a picture of a hawk doing this sometime! Really nice detail in the feathers. I love that intense look from the hawk! Really nice background, too!

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 16, 2011 at 10:19 PM

nice reworking of the image and a great pose, Craig. I like the way the tail feathers are coming through the wing. I might try warming it up a little and apply a little more sharpening on the head--the bird's right eye seems less sharp. Your cloning looks good--the only thing I might try is adding some of those thin vertical cuts into the cloned wood so it is patterned more like the stuff above it.

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

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on December 17, 2011 at 12:14 PM

Great shot- Fantastic pose, excellent detail and a gorgeous quality of light- My congrats, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on December 17, 2011 at 3:05 PM

I can see why this is a favorite on your website Craig, great eye contact and pose. The rework is quite an improvement as well.

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

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on December 17, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Love the title Craig, fits the image perfectly.
Great images just have that something special. It's many times intangible or not easily quantified, but unmistakeably present..
This has it

Merry Christmas

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Suzanne Huot on December 17, 2011 at 9:13 PM

The second image really pops out at you .Love the fact that you caught him mantling too ,adds great interest to an already great capture.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 32 Posts, 240 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 18, 2011 at 1:35 PM

Beautiful, Craig. A vast improvement on the original you posted below, which was excellent already.

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

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on December 18, 2011 at 2:49 PM

Your re-work is alot more natural looking.

Glad you posted up the re-work of this shot, as its very nice

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 19, 2011 at 1:02 PM

I can see why people would like this one, nice job on the post processing rework as that really makes the image stand out even more, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on December 20, 2011 at 6:22 AM

Great pose and nice detail on the hawk. Excellent work,

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

&quot;Prey . . . . what prey?

Comments

"Prey . . . . what prey?