This Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging out in a tree well uphill from the house and at least 150 ft away. My iPhone says the lens is angled 30 degrees up, which makes it awkward. I saw it yesterday late afternoon in some sweet light and it let me get set up and get a few shots. It didn’t give me any poses, and with the very long lens some were not as sharp as others, but this one wasn’t bad. It’s the first time I’ve had a good look at the tail.
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon R5, Canon 600 f/4 + 2X + 1.4X, ISO 800, f/11 (wide open), 1/200 sec. (I like living dangerously.) Almost nothing done in raw except CA correction. Denoise and sharpening in PS but would hardly show at this size. Some pruning, but not as much as the last time I shot him/her. I’m tempted to remove the branch behind the head but it will be tricky.
3 Likes
Hi Diane! The light was in your favor! I love how it’s perfectly lighting up the feathers! The colors are so beautiful close up like this! It’s neat that the hawk turned around so you could get the eye too! Beautiful!
Hi Diane, the head seems plenty sharp to me in this image particularly viewed large. Great look at the red tail and with a terrific head turn. Interesting perch even though too bad it intersects the bird’s head as you mentioned. Still a fine rendition of this magnificent hawk as is.
Diane, this is a pretty good look at this beautiful hawk in a setting they like to be in, a tree that is either dead, or winter time without the leaves, looking for their next meal. I really like the head turn, and the sweet light you were able to capture him in.
Diane, a great backside look with a nice head turn, great sharpness throughout, but it really sings thorough facial features.
Well done. Very sharp and some nice details with all that glass. Looks like the hawk has some thoughts on that also. As mentioned nice light and soft colors. Looks good.
I love the look of the tail, Diane and given the amount of glass you had and your shutter speed, the detail is outstanding. I don’t think I’d worry about the branch.
Thanks everyone – forgot to say this is about 60% of the full frame – a horizontal cropped a bit from top and bottom and both sides. The R5 eye AF went right to the eye and stayed there.
