Retro Sharpie

I had my camera gear packed in the truck yesterday when this Sharp-shinned Hawk showed up about dinner time. However I had my old 20D handy because I use it for a volunteer project where I’m in and out of salt water and it has adequate resolution for what they want. I switched to my 300mm f/4 with a 1.4 TC and headed out to see what I could do with such antique equipment (retired less than 12 years ago).

What technical feedback would you like if any?

I had to clean up a lot of out of focus branches in the background. Does it still look ok.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Canon eos 20D (8.4 MP is I recall correctly), 300mm f/4L & 1.4 TC, hand held, f/6.3, 1/1250, iso 1600 (very high for such an antique), manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neatimage. Taken yesterday at 4:35 pm under light rain.

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Dang, Dennis. I love the falling rain. It looks almost like snow (is it that time of the year already?!) The pose is excellent, the tech is also excellent. I did not see any artifacts on the BG clean up.

Very nice, Dennis! I like the backside view as it shows off the wing feather colors. It looks like it’s snuggled up pretty tight which reflects the cold, wet weather. The image is surprisingly clean for ISO-1600 on that old of a camera and the noise reduction didn’t seem to hurt the details much at all. Well done!

Another great shot of the Sharpie, Dennis. You did well using that old of a camera body with ISO at 1600. Wonderful details and no complaints of noise. Worked out well, and you got the shot without unpacking.

Very nice look at the hawk, fine detail and good head turn. Don’t they say buy the best lens you can afford, rather than the best camera? Good example of that.