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Red Tail Hawk Takeoff
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Red Tail Hawk Takeoff

by Patrick O'Healy

Gallery: AvianPosted January 8, 2012111 views5 comments
San Jacinto Wildlife Area January 1, 2012
Nikon D-300 Nikon 200-400 1.4 extender
550 mm f/8 1/2500 ISO-640 0 step
70.8 meters Aperture Priority RAW
Cropped CS5

We traveled through the area in caravan in three cars. In the second car, I often got set to shoot after the subject had been startled into departure. In most other instances, the hawks flew beyond my focal length, or so low I was unable to get focused on them before they were by. This Red Tail was in this tree and car number 1 passed him by. I was able to get out and take a sequence of shots with several of him sitting on a branch and several more in sequence after takeoff.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 8, 2012 at 6:04 PM
The second shot in the sequence was posted a few days ago.
Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 8, 2012 at 6:40 PM
A nice action pose. Not as sharp as I'd like to see the image, with more noise and less detail than is desirable. I assume this is from the higher ISO and the crop (how much was the crop?). Also the color is different in the small and large versions in a color-aware browser, with the smaller version looking a bit on the cyan side.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Terry Sohl on January 9, 2012 at 8:24 AM
Nice pose by the bird, I like seeing the outstretched talons. I agree it's a bit soft, and also see a cyan color cast on the smaller version.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments
Comment posted by Cam Held on January 9, 2012 at 11:35 AM
I agree with the others that the pose is great but it seems a bit soft and has a cyan cast on the small version. I really like the comp and the takeoff though! Awesome!
-Cam
Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 9, 2012 at 4:11 PM
I agree with Rich D's critique Patrick. The soft focus and noise hurt this image's impact.
Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments