While visiting in Virginia last week I was able to enjoy a couple of hours at Chincoteague NWR with my friend. This old tree is a favorite spot for Egrets, Osprey and Great Blues, but we were pleasantly surprised to see this Cooper Hawk.
Specific Feedback Requested
Does the composition work? I like the old tree, but I cropped in on the tree a little, and let the tree trunk and limb balance the image. If I cropped in muc it would be just the limb, and I don’t think that would work well.
Technical Details
Canon R5, Sigma 150-600mm lens, manual settings except auto ISO. 1/3200, f6.3, ISO 400. Edited in LR.
Great shot, Shirley. Lovely blue sky and detail in the hawk. I can certainly see your dilemma about the crop, but think you have handled it as best as you could give the circumstances. If you crop of the tree trunk, the limb will be coming out from no where. I like the crop.
Nice job, Shirley. I haven’t been able to get a shot of a hawk, standing or flying. I have seen them flying in the distant or out in fields just plowed in the fall. Even with my long lens, they would be a speck. I like the dead tree too and think you did the best crop. If you wanted to do a free form crop, you could take a little more blue off on the three sky sides. Nicely seen.
I think you chose the crop well, Shirley. Small limbs might work alone, but that big thing needs to be anchored and you chose what looks like the right amount of the trunk to do it.
Nice catch, Shirley! A difficult crop for sure. You could try to clone out the top of the main trunk if you wanted. There’s so much blue bird sky to paint over with it might work really well.
Hi Shirley,
The image looks well balanced to me and the old tree adds a lot to the story!
Everything technical looks great and I bet the hawk is looking at that big glass eye of yours wondering if it’s safe to stay put, either that or it’s looking for its next meal
I wonder if the hawk is using those vertical stubs as camouflage because it kind of blends in with the tree, hiding in plain sight?, easily seen but not easily recognized at a glance.
I just saw this (been too busy again). I think the crop works very well because the lighter part of the trunk matches the coloration of the bird so well!
