Morning Lookout

Gallery: AvianPosted November 28, 201097 views8 comments

My second bird posting from our recent trip to South Africa. The raptor species were much more difficult to photograph than the weavers as one might expect. Here's one of our favorite hawks, the Pale Chanting Goshawk. They are even more beautiful in flight but unfortunately I didn't get any good "in flight" photos. This particular goshawk was looking directly into the early morning sun on our last day in Karoo NP. C&C are always appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon 100-400L IS @ 400
ISO 640, F10, 1/1,600
Approximately 50% Crop

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 28, 2010 at 10:57 PM

Nice image, Joe. The light works well. It looks as if your point of focus might have been the back, as the head looks just a bit soft-some selective sharpening to that area might be nice. I might crop a bit off the bottom as the perch seems a bit excessive. You did a good job on the exposure.

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 28, 2010 at 11:15 PM

Pretty sure I saw an immature one of these in Kruger, so it's nice to see what an adult looks like. Quite a handsome bird.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on November 29, 2010 at 2:06 AM

I agree with Dennis' comments. I like the pose quite a lot and his steely stare. The contrast is quite high, I wonder if you could increase the blacks a little or just lower the contrast.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 29, 2010 at 11:08 AM

Joe,
very nice head turn, light and exposure control. I agree about the head looks a bit soft.

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 29, 2010 at 4:18 PM

Joseph,

You have some nice light on the Goshawk and I think the comp works well, but I'd consider cropping a bit of the thorny bush off of the bottom and leaving more room at the top if you have it. The pose and setting are very nice, I like how the bird turned its head towards the light. The head does appear soft so I would try some selective sharpening there.

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

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 29, 2010 at 7:15 PM

A regal looking bird Joe and it seems to have a bit of an attitude too. Nice light and effective head turn with this pose. I agree with Mia about composition and others about the slight softness of the head.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 29, 2010 at 9:01 PM

I like your comp and the alert pose of the bird here Joe. Agreed that it's a bit soft and adding some sharpening to the head might help.

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

Comment posted by Joe James on November 29, 2010 at 9:12 PM

Thanks folks for the advice! I've taken another shot at it in an attempt to incorporate them and think it looks a bit better. What do you all think?

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments