# Cooper's Hawk

**URL:** <https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737>\
**Category:** Image Critiques\
**Tags:** birds\
**Created:** [February 22, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737 "2023-02-22T18:45:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Allen\_Brooks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_brooks/32/390_2.png) [@Allen\_Brooks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Brooks)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737/1 "2023-02-22T18:45:47Z")

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![Cooper's Hawk](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/2/a/2a7f9227d0a10457c78d3b0ba9b56273843d2066.jpeg)

Always nice to come across a hawk in the open like this.

### Type of Critique Requested

- Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
- Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.

### Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

I would wish for a better sky, but it was a cloudy day- not much I could do. I did play around with sky replacement in PS, but every one of them looked artificial and make the hawk look as if it was stuffed and on display in a museum of natural history. I did overexpose to get a more proper exposure for the bird, but even so, given the conditions, I don’t think I lost any detail in the sky. Any thoughts on this would be helpful.

### Technical Details

Canon R5; 500 mm; 1/500 at f7.1, +1 1/3 EV; ISO 250

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morrissey](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/peter_morrissey/32/683_2.png) [@Peter\_Morrissey](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Peter_Morrissey)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737/2 "2023-02-22T21:36:48Z")

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Hi Allen  
I am not a fan of replacing backgrounds, but I can see why you might give it a try. The Hawk is very cool. The coloring , head turn with great eyes contact make this photograph.  
Peter

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**Author:** ![David\_Bostock](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/david_bostock/32/34921_2.png) [@David\_Bostock](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/David_Bostock)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737/3 "2023-02-22T22:11:42Z")

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Hi Allen, great catch of a magnificent bird. I love the way the branches frame the bird. Well done. As for the sky, the only thing I can think of would be to select the sky, maybe via color, and then hit it with a color balance to pull more blue into it…or something like that…the sky can be a real stickler…not a deal breaker in this one though as it’s all very uniform and not a distraction at all.

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**Author:** ![Mike\_Friel](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/mike_friel/32/28003_2.png) [@Mike\_Friel](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Mike_Friel)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737/4 "2023-02-22T23:45:00Z")

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This is a great catch of the beautiful hawk, Allen. My only small suggestion would be to make the branch to the right of the bird’s shoulder a bit less “foggy”. The plain sky adds to our focus on the bird as centre of attention, I think. Well done.

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**Author:** ![terryb](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/terryb/32/39625_2.png) [@terryb](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/terryb)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/coopers-hawk/33737/5 "2023-02-23T00:20:26Z")

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Those featureless, gray skies are always problematic, aren’t they? A terrific look at this bird, though and a nice perch to display him on. Details are great.