Red-Tailed Hawk, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washingon, USA
Any comments appreciated.
Is this a composite: No
Canon 1D IV, 500mm f/4 + 1.4 @ 700mm, 1/100sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400.
The catch light in the eye is the sun coming up over the horizon…
I wonder if a tad more DoF would have given a bit more clarity to the beak. since the BG is just sky, bokeh doesn’t become an issue.
HI David
This is a powerful photograph, the Hawk has total command of the shot. The color and detail are vary nice, but it’s the eye that grabs the viewer. The DOF on the beak did not bother me, it just looks like a well used tool.
Peter
Birds of prey always seem so well equipped to dole out enough force to handle most situations in obtaining a solid meal… 
This is a wonderful portraiture of this very clean looking hawk… 
Such a beautiful portrait of a beautiful hawk, David! It looks like you’re right next to him! 700mm, awesome! I love the close up look.
Gorgeous portrait of a predator!! Wonderful detail and tonalities!
This enlarges quite well. Good job on the detail, color, textures and plumage. My experience at Ridgefield has been similar and I have found many of these hawks hanging out on signs and posts. They don’t seem to mind the cars very much at all.
