Death in the Snow

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

CoopwPrey.jpg
CoopwPrey.jpg2000×1433 538 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

After returning from the grocery store, I noticed a subadult Cooper’s hawk processing its prey. This was a tough shot to get. Snow was falling and there was little light and contrast for the autofocus to work with. I took lots of photos and chose this one which shows that the hawk discovered my presence. The hawk was about 200 feet away so this represents a very heavy crop. Noise suppression followed with adjusting Levels and shadows provided enough recovery in the details. Lots of artifacts were present from the sharpening so I softened some of thesze areas with a touch of Guassian blur with a layers mask.

Specific Feedback

This is not a great or award winning image, but serves to show that nature does take out those not fit for survival. There was a lot of processing to get the image within reason for presentation. Do you think its OK as presented or have I done too much. There was not much contrast in the RAW file.

Technical Details

z9 180-400mm f4 with 1.4x TC at 550mm (1/80 sec at f5.6, ISO 640) DeNoise, Cropped away 80% of the frame, adjusted exposure, curves adjustment, shadows & highlights. Artifact removal methodology stated above. Sorry for the graphic nature of this image, but even Cooper’s hawks have to eat…Jim

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2

It looks pretty good to me. My only suggestion if it was something you are not opposed to would be to get rid of some of the branches very close to the hawk.

Nice capture!

3

Given the conditions you had to work with, this is a fine shot, Jim. I do notice a lack of detail in the white puff under the tail, but that’s always a difficult area to pull out detail. You might want to remove that one thin twig sticking out of the ground what looks to be about a hand’s width in front of the bird as for some reason it really draws my eye.

A very good behavioral image.

4

Works well as a nature shot. The hawk looks pretty sharp and I like the look it’s giving you. I could see a slight crop from the bottom.

5

Nice behavioral capture showing the Cooper’s hawk doing what it does. Bird looks sharp enough to my eye even with the crop. I could see trying a crop from the bottom as Allen B suggests. Nice catch.

6

Hi Jim
This is really good photograph, the low angle, eye contact and detail on the Cooper’s Hawk are all good. Are the branches suffering from over processing?
Peter

7

I think you did well under the circumstances, Jim. You got an unobscured look at the hawk and the high-key background helps it stand out. The low angle helps with the scene - you even got the hawk looking at you.