Rough-legged Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted November 14, 2010225 views18 comments

I've had little time or opportunity for shooting lately so this one's from two years ago. This hawk gave me a variety of interesting poses and I posted a couple of them in the distant past. I liked the intimate look at the behavior and the view of the surprisingly (to me) large gape.

40D, 1/1000, f/10, ISO 400, -1/3 ev, shot from vehicle (not pickup) window, small exposure adjustment in ACR, cropped to 54% of original image, sharpened bird and perch, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, not set up or baited

Larger image provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 14, 2010 at 7:12 PM

Neat pose and good eye contact. Nice understated color. Solid composition. There's less definition in the white feathers than I expect in your shots so I suspect that's from the crop?

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 14, 2010 at 7:21 PM

"There's less definition in the white feathers than I expect in your shots so I suspect that's from the crop?"

Could be Rich - especially since this was taken with the 40D (fewer pixels). The adjustment in ACR was pretty small (+.15 exposure and -.10 highlights) and I did nothing else but sharpen, with the brightest whites taken out of the mask.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 14, 2010 at 7:30 PM

Love the preening action here Ron. Love that tail too. Whites look good to me, but I am sure there is more detail there if you were to reduce the brightness in the brightest parts by just a small amount. Love the overall comp and wonderful BG. Used to see these guys in Wisconsin all the time, I miss them here in FL.

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

Comment posted by Buck Ward on November 14, 2010 at 8:42 PM

I enjoy seeing this. I always like a picture of a bird doing something interesting. Not a familiar species for me. Well done.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 96 Posts, 1917 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on November 14, 2010 at 9:03 PM

I like the preening pose and the understated colors here, Ron. I think that light intensity and angle is the origin of somewhat less definition in some of the white feathers. So, as Ron mentioned, selectively lowering the brightness might help. If it does not, then perhaps it just means that the light striking that area did not result in sufficient variation in reflected intensity across the feathers. It seems to me that if the origin of the lower definition was less pixels (i.e. the effect of crop and 40D resolution) then we would see the effect across the whole image. However, some very fine detail is evident in the image.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 15, 2010 at 12:51 AM

Great behavior shot, ron. Love the subtle colors.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on November 15, 2010 at 2:48 AM

Nice one Ron - great detail, behaviour and subdued colours

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Karen Summers on November 15, 2010 at 6:18 AM

Great shot especially with the preening the colour is good nice and subtle

Registered on December 3, 2009, 83 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on November 15, 2010 at 8:53 AM

wonderful preening pose, with great eye contact (those two don't usually seem to go together).

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Rohn B. McKee on November 15, 2010 at 9:18 AM

NOTHING better then a sticky Rough-legged Hawk

I do love this image. Thanks Ron

Registered on November 18, 2008, 109 Posts, 415 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on November 15, 2010 at 5:15 PM

Interesting action beautifully captured.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on November 15, 2010 at 6:11 PM

Very interesting pose and wonderful capture!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on November 15, 2010 at 6:19 PM

Nice composition Ron, love the pose. The eye contact is excellent as well.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on November 16, 2010 at 3:09 PM

Very nice and different shot. Definitely the most unusual pose I have seen lately. It looks like he is pointing at you.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on November 16, 2010 at 3:30 PM

The perfect preening pose Ron, with eye conactc too. Also like the overall earth tones and composition.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 17, 2010 at 9:30 AM

Very nice Ron, the unusual pose generates some great interest.
Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 17, 2010 at 1:32 PM

Ron,
a different pose very well captured. Beautiful shot.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 17, 2010 at 8:52 PM

Ron,

This is a spectacular pose with mounds of interest. The Roughie looks like it is really enjoying itself, great eye contact, background, sharpness and colors. Very well done.

I hope we get some sticky Roughies this year.

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