# Red-shouldered Hawk **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** birds\ **Created:** [February 15, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570 "2023-02-15T17:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**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 15, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/1 "2023-02-15T17:20:03Z")
![Red-shouldered Hawk](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/b/e/be4982eb741c9dd0b46e405c91d1f9f5175ba5f1.jpeg) Second year I’ve seen a red-shouldered hawk pair in this location. They generally are high up in a tree, so lots of branches, some of which I removed. The hawk was facing the morning sun, which brought out the redness in its plumage. ### 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 Too busy with all the branches? ### Technical Details Canon R5; 100-500 at 500 mm; 1/800 at f7.1, -1/3EV; ISO 160 ---
**Author:** ![Dean\_Salman](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dean_salman/32/13291_2.png) [@Dean\_Salman](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dean_Salman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/2 "2023-02-15T17:35:39Z")
Excellent capture, Allen, and in great lighting. I like how the bird is looking and the branches around framing the bird in the environment. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Bauer](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/keith_bauer/32/211_2.png) [@Keith\_Bauer](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Keith_Bauer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/3 "2023-02-16T14:15:33Z")
Hi @Allen_Brooks Nice lookout this red-shouldered hawk: Aesthetic : Most of the branches don’t bother me much. The merge of the head and the branch above is a bummer. If you were an inch higher that probably wouldn’t have happened. Technical: Feels just a touch underexposed. A quick look in PS showed on a levels adjustment layer, moving the whites slider to 242 and the midtowns to .95 made a nice change. ---
**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 16, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/4 "2023-02-16T14:37:12Z")
Obviously tough shooting conditions @Allen_Brooks. Like @Keith_Bauer, I would like to see a bit more light on the hawk. A nice photo worth tweaking just a bit, in my opinion. ---
**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 16, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/5 "2023-02-16T17:12:01Z")
Thanks, @Dean_Salman , @Keith_Bauer, and @terryb for your comments. Here’s a repost with the changes Keith suggested. It does bring out some of the richness in the reds and there’s more contrast against the sky. Keith, I agree the branch over the head is not well placed, but before I cloned them out there were three small branches coming off that branch as if it was a headdress for the hawk. ![19a-23-Red-shouldered Hawk-8181-repost](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/5/e/5eaf8667e83374b3412608a313b58929430d24ca.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Haynes](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@David\_Haynes](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/David_Haynes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/red-shouldered-hawk/33570/6 "2023-02-17T16:11:44Z")
I love red shoulder hawks. This one is no exception. You really captured the beautiful red and orange tones in this one. This looks like a tough perch to get a clean shot without a branch touching the bird somewhere and you did a pretty good job but the head touching the branch above him bothers me a little bit. It would have been great to have just a little bit of separation there but you would have needed to be on your tippy toes. You have a good head turn as well.