Hawk in rain

Gallery: AvianPosted April 1, 201090 views9 comments

I believe this is a Coopers Hawk (I'd appreciate correction or confirmation) that I photographed on a very rainy afternoon in October 2008. The bird was sitting on the broken limb of a London Plane tree over-hanging a neighborhood street bordering a community park in my town in South Jersey. I prefer this composition since I like to give a sense of the environment or location of my subjects. Photographed with Canon 1DMkIIn, 400mm f/2.8, f/4 @ 1/500th, ISO800, some minor sharpening applied.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on April 1, 2010 at 4:38 PM

Great capture Tom. It would be nice to have a little more room in front of the bird, but that may not have been possible.

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on April 1, 2010 at 5:34 PM

Very nice bg and weather. I agree a bit more room on the left would be nice.

Registered on November 30, 2008, 114 Posts, 790 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 1, 2010 at 8:04 PM

I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Nice image Tom, the rain adds a lot to it. I like the perch as well but would like to have more room on the left.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 1, 2010 at 8:27 PM

Yes, im red-tailed. A really great BG here Tom. Although I like the "stuff" you included to the right, I too would like to see a bit less there and more to the left of the bird in the direction it is facing. Nice rain and exposure.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 1, 2010 at 9:09 PM

Extremely nice environmental portrait Tom!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on April 1, 2010 at 9:09 PM

I agree with the others about the space to the left. If you have it great if not it is still one to be proud of.

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 1, 2010 at 11:32 PM

Cool Shot, Tom. I really like the rain, and while I agree with the others about more room on the left, I sure don't know if I could have passed up that gorgeous perch. If you could have backed up a bit it might have given you some more options.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 2, 2010 at 8:33 AM

Tom,

I love the great mood you caught with the wet RTH, falling rain drops and the bit of motion blur from the wind on the leaves. As much as I like the broken branch the hawk is perched on I think I'd crop some from the right and have more space on the top and left side of the frame if you have it. You'd still retain the sense of habitat but it might provide a stronger composition.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Mihalek on April 3, 2010 at 1:36 PM

Thank you all for yourr kind comments and suggestions. About the composition: There is room in the original frame to add more image to the left; however, I prefer to have the broken limb in the frame rather than just more open space - the background - in the photo. While this may go against a more conservative or conventional approach to composition, I want to get away from conventional and try something else. You'll notice this in the other photos I (will) post. Again, I thank you for your comments and find the discussions enlightening.

Registered on March 18, 2010, 15 Posts, 10 Comments