Recently I went in search of a Hen Harrier not too far from where I live and tried to capture their typical hunting behaviour. Despite the technical challenges (a very dark day) I tried to come up with a descent image…
Are the techs okay for you (sharpness & noise level)
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D500 with 500mm f4 | 1/1000s | f4 | ISO2000 | overexposed 1/3EV | camera leaning on car window
Hans, the Harrier stands out well, with her wings spread, head and feet down pose. The sharpness in the grasses under her and the color match between her and the grass work well also. The noise level looks fine.
Hi Hans
I agree with Mark, nice work.
Peter
The mood of this is really nice. The fact the harrier is looking down really adds to the story. The grasses are fantastic and I really enjoy the fact that you included the environment and didn’t try to crop this down to something else.
Very good, Hans. An unusual but very effective head angle (for a photograph, not the bird). I love the position of the bird just above the grass. Noise looks fine. On my monitor, it looks just a hair brighter than what I associate with our harriers, but I live in the gloomy Pacific Northwest where everything is darker.
Well done Hans. Hand held out a car window of a hunting hawk on a dark day! A very nice hunting pose and I really like the look of the habitat. A pretty photo. It is surprising that she would be able to find anything in the deep grass. I have been trying blurs on similar days around here. No luck yet.
Well done! The gesture tells the story, the color palette of this picture is awesome, and it’s nice to know you went in search of behaviour, something that elevates a photograph like this beyond just a bird in flight. Great positioning in the frame as well.
Lovely capture! I’m late to the party and all said above!
So good, Hans. The environment is fantastic. And it’s one of the few bird photos that works well when the bird isn’t looking at you.
The captured moment conveys the action – quite nice.
At first glance, I get the impression that the bird is hovering over a spot above the grass that is out of focus…but the sharp foreground grass tells you the bird is, in fact, over the foreground. It took me a moment to sort that out.
Like you, for Hen Harrers I like to use the car. Not only does it double up as a hide and tripod (the window), but this bird does not (seem to) mind when you follow at its speed while it hunts, usually at car-window level!
