Red shouldered hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted January 15, 2011115 views13 comments

This youngster was at Sacramento NWR. I love the "high key"/bright white backround look, but I know it's not for everyone. This bird was pretty cooperative and I got lots of poses. I like the contemplative look on this one.

40D, 1-400mm IS, out of the car 6.3 @ 1/250 of a second, +2 stops and a bit of fill flash. slight crop

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Philip Haffley on January 15, 2011 at 10:01 AM

I like the pose and the detail. I personally would prefer a less harsh background but I still think it is a very good photo.

Registered on August 10, 2008, 265 Posts, 317 Comments

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on January 15, 2011 at 11:12 AM

I'm not a huge fan of high-key backgrounds, but I am of this shot. This works very well. You did a terrific job with the fill-flash...tough to get exposure right in a high-key situation sometimes, and fill-flash certainly helps.

Love the pose of this guy as well.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on January 15, 2011 at 11:17 AM

I am another who is not fond of high key backgrounds, at least usually. In this instance I think it has allowed the bird to stand out nicely and the details are quite good. I really like that tilted head pose.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on January 15, 2011 at 11:38 AM

Looks like a nice job with the flash to me. I like the detail. Nice DOF. Very nice photo.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 15, 2011 at 12:08 PM

I think the background works well for this image with the colors of this bird. Very nice.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on January 15, 2011 at 12:18 PM

Very nice shot of this hawk - I would clone out the branch by his head --

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on January 15, 2011 at 12:34 PM

Great detail and I especially enjoy the views of the beak, eye, and talons. Nice job with the high key background.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on January 15, 2011 at 12:42 PM

Nice look at this Red shouldered Hawk Dan. I like the pose with it looking down. It looks like it's scoping out some prey.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on January 15, 2011 at 6:29 PM

I like this very much Dan, looks like a painting, would look very nice in a frame hanging on a wall IMO. I do agree with Scott though about cloning out the twig in front of it's head.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on January 15, 2011 at 8:58 PM

Very nice detail on this hawk Dan. The fill flash really helped here. I like the look he is giving....looks like he is intent on pouncing on something below.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 15, 2011 at 10:07 PM

Nice use of fill flash. Very natural looking. BG works fine for me, but I like HK backgrounds. Nice and sharp too.

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 17, 2011 at 5:35 PM

Dan,

I like the pose, the setting, look at the eye and in this instance I like the high key background. Also like the spot of blood on the center talon of the left foot.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 18, 2011 at 3:38 PM

Nice to have a cooperative hawk, I think the wonderful detail on the larger image wins out over the bright background for me, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments