An Old Family Tradition

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

It seems like every August we get a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk coming to our back yard feeding station. At that time, it just happens to be frequented by literally hundreds of juvenile American Goldfinches and a few Pine Siskins. I can just imagine the adult Sharpies telling junior, “You’re on your own now, but go over to the Plank’s place. It’s a great place to learn your trade.”

This is the current year’s junior Sharpie. It’s been coming by pretty regularly for two or three weeks now. This one seems to have a lot of patience, but judging by results needs to work on its attack speed.

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What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Sony a6500, FE200-600 @ 600 mm, hand held, f/8, 1/1250, iso 1000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neat Image and a bit of feather enhancement with Topaz Detail 3. I removed some out of focus vegetation in the upper left and a flower garden fence along the bottom edge. I also brought the shadows up with some dodging and a luminosity mask curves adjustment. Cropped from a horizontal original to 2402x3182. Taken August 23rd at 5:25 pm.

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3 Likes
2

A dandy photo Dennis. I like that intense stare. Lovely color combination and really nice detail especially nice in highlighted left wing. An interesting story how you get the repeat visitors.

3

Dennis, what a nice portrait of him, and I love the story behind it. The nice smooth background compliments him well. That stare is worth it all. He must be getting hungry and wondering what he is doing wrong to not be able to capture dinner. I like the perch he is on, and how it slants upward through the frame. Wonderful details in this hawk. Well done.

4

Wonderful capture Dennis, as Shirley said the stare was amazing.

5

A compelling image. He is obviously considering having ME for dinner… The soft BG is the perfect color for the bird and allows the bird to be presented in 3D. I wonder about a slight crop from the left, as the perch detail there pulls my eye away from the wonderful hawk.