Wingspan

Super pose, light and head turn Greg. This bird must look just spectacular in a larger presentation. My only reservation is the one you mention.

Amazing capture, Greg! I absolutely love the wing detail and colors. Fantastic work!

What grass? Oh, that grass. Not a problem for me. BG, DOF, exposure, detail, and sharpness are all right on. The grass could have been along a road which is where I usually see these guys. Well done!

great shot.............darker plummage than the red tails I see here in Pa.

Looks like a very well groomed fella' Greg, nice!

Outstanding, Greg! The only thing that I would do differently is give it a bit more room on the LH side, that the bird is looking into. You know, if you were so inclined, you could very easily get some long, OOF grass from another image, and clone it in the bg to this one.......

Thanks for the comments so far.

Mike, I do have more room on that side to make the crop you suggest. To make a long story short I had to take this photo a distance away to make sure to get the wings in the frame and with the intention of cropping afterward. But I had a hard time cropping this one and I went back and forth between your suggestion and this. I finally chose this mainly to keep the eye more centered (the alternative left it hanging there in middle ground which I just couldn't handle)

Looks awfully good to me, short grass and all!

Head turn with great wing span make this a winner. The BG is also good.

Great detail and light on this Redtail Greg! Nothing you can do about where it decides to pick up sticks

Excellent pose, Greg. I like the light too, and you keep the grass sufficiently oof that it doesn't bother me.

Super capture, Greg. I would not be too concerned with the manicured lawn. The image of the raptor is the main point of focus and it is not in a captive area such as a zoo for instance. Looks just fine to me.

Wonderful wing display plus a nice head turn. Very well done.
May

Great light and detail. Love the wingspread and the capture of the eye. It's a beauty, Greg.

Very impressive Hawk.
Jagdeep Rajput

Greg,

I like the pose, the light, the action and the great headturn. As for the grass I have been to places where the grass wasn't ever cut and only grew high enough to barely cover the ground, so the grass here doesn't seem unnatural to my eyes. Given the fact that I don't see any browned cut marks on the grass, even more so.

Superb image! My only suggestion would be to place him a little more to the right, but that is very minor.

Ditto your thoughts on the grass Greg but a stunning shot of the bird - detail, eye, wing spread, low angle - it has everything.

cheers
Rob

The bird in this image is so perfect that it almost looks fake. The manicured grass doesn't detract but a more natural setting would have been nice.