The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
I was photographing red tail hawks in one of my usual spots when four American kestrels flew into the area. They immediately converged on this hawk, who was flying solo, and drove him away. I was able to get in a number of photos of the kestrel and hawk together, but I thought this photo, with the kestrel very close the hawk’s head, was the best. The other photos I have show the kestrel’s entire body (as he was flying away from the hawk), but I thought this was the best.
I struggled a bit with processing, wanting to get as much detail as possible in the birds. And I am wondering if this sky (light blue) is too calm or pleasant-looking for the subject, which is more action-oriented.
Feedback Requested
Does this photo raise any emotions or feelings? I do a lot of bird photography and a scene like this (smaller birds chasing away a hawk) is pretty common, so I’m curious what other think. Is the sky too light, and does it clash with the “action” of the smaller birds chasing the bigger bird? Would a darker sky elicit different emotions?
Technical Details
Camera: Nikon Z6 III
Lens: NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/2000s
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 100
Richard, this is a great action view, with the kestrel clearly attacking the Redtail. I think that some (more??) dodging of the Redtail’s head (to better see its eye) would be good. You might also try to select the two birds, brighten them slightly with a bit more contrast to show off the details in their wings better. The sky with clouds is much better that a clear blue sky. I’m having mixed feelings about the sky, thinking that more contrast would be good (adding some blue saturation), but that might have the sky competing with the birds for attention…
The raptors are under-exposed against the bright sky so, brightening up the shadows and dodging the head of the red-tail may reveal essential details. There’s a fairly strong halo around the subjects that should be addressed too. I like the action present in the scene, and the kestrel has the best position for a successful attack. …Jim
With those mottled clouds it would be easy enough to make the sky more threatening, Richard, though To me it’s not necessary for the image. You have some bright fringes around the edges of the birds, probably from trying to bring out the detail. I can never remember the trick for getting rid of it easily, but there is one and a quick search will probably produce several variations. Even though I know they’re back-lit, I’d be tempted to bring both hawks up a bit more and the faces just a tad more than the bodies as it’s faces we lock onto. I think you might want to look at cropping some off the bottom and right to add a bit more dynamism to the image With the hawks centered and wings in soaring position it feels a touch static to me.
Great action shot, Richard. I like seeing the size difference between the species-it’s always impressive how these small birds will fight off the larger one. I would agree with the other comments about trying to bring up the shadows in the birds. I like the sky, though I suppose you could play around with it to create more drama to tie in with the action, such as a black and white conversion of the sky.
