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Cooper's Hawk + Lunch
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Cooper's Hawk + Lunch

by Norma Tareila Matl

Gallery: AvianPosted February 10, 20181,748 views3 comments
Today I saw a hawk up on a tree, always a hard shot to photograph into the sky. I took my chances and got my shot. He did not move just turned his head and looked at me. I was surprised to see how far he could rotate his neck, like an owl almost. After taking many shots, got home downloaded and corrected the levels in Photoshop and noticed he was holding a sparrow in his talons. That is why he was not moving. Nice to see this behavior and get an okay shot. Please feel free to give me so tips on how to shoot up into a tree, thanks. 

Nikon 5300
auto 
300 mm lens 

I will put camera setting soon. 

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on February 10, 2018 at 10:18 AM
Hi Norma,

A very reasonable shot for the light conditions. I like that you captured the hawk with its prey.  The head and eye are soft as the front of the breast was the point of focus.  Set your autofocus point on the eye so that the head stays nice and crisp.  Your exposure looks good--the only way to pull those shadow details is to over-expose the sky.........................Jim 
Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments
Comment posted by David Bogener on February 10, 2018 at 6:17 PM
Not much you can do about the steep angle.  A little more eye contact would be good and positive exposure compensation also helps when your subject is darker than your background.  So cool that you were able to catch him with prey.  Dave
Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 11, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Hi Norma.  A nice event to catch.  It is difficult to shoot into trees like that.  I'm not familiar with your camera, but as David mentioned, positive exposure compensation is a very good idea against a white sky unless your setting your exposure manually.  Probably about 1 full stop for a shot like this, but even more might work.  Since it was setting still for you, checking your histogram and looking at the image on your camera is a good idea.  As Jim mentioned, the AF point on the eye helps a lot.  That means you need to set your AF system so only one point is active,  In practice, unless you're really close, anyplace on the face is probably good.  I believe you can press the shutter release half way to focus, hold it there and recompose with the Nikons, the same as with the Canons.

I hope that helps a bit.
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments