My first morning out in the Skagit Valley, I ran across this extremely cooperative hawk. Unfortunately, the preserve I was at had a very high chain link fence that blocked the angle I wanted. However, I found a nice piece of driftwood handy that I was able to use as a booster and balance the lens on the top of the fence for this shot (and a whole bunch of others). The hawk has a bit of feather or something stuck on the far side of its beak so it really looks odd with the opposite head turn.
7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, balanced on fence, f/8, 1/500, iso 2000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 9.9 MP. Taken at 9:32 am on January 11th under cloudy skies.
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Great subject that isn’t photographed often. The BG is excellent, and the even light is very nice. The bird looks like it needs a bit more sharpening, and my preference is for natural perches. Looking forward to more of this fellow!
Interesting story and setup, Dennis. Judging from the pose it looks like a chilly day. For me the loose comp works very well, because it’s a raptor looking over its territory. Your soft light and colors of the BG are a bonus. Would be interesting, if you have it, to see a version with a bit more of the perch.
The crop looks fine and I loke the comp. I would leave this one as is, but if you so desire, you can bump up the midtone contrast which should make those feathers more crisp. Well done…Jim.
A pleasing capture of a species we don’t see on this forum often enough, Dennis. Good head turn and background, and a nice look at the plumage in soft light. Others have noted the softness in the head, but I think that may also be due to the background. Re composition, I think a more vertical frame, may suit this better.
