Northern Harrier

Gallery: AvianPosted April 10, 2011248 views23 comments

Hi all... here is one of my favorites of my favorite raptor from this past winter. It's usually my luck to have these guys always looking down, but once in awhile it works out that they give a look while flying near....

1DIV @ 700mm
1/2000 f/5.6 iso640

Thanks for looking...

John

Comments

23 comments

Comment posted by Greg Schneider on April 10, 2011 at 10:42 PM

Quite possibly the best harrier photo I've ever seen. The background looks as lovely as the bird.

Registered on February 9, 2008, 84 Posts, 138 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 10, 2011 at 11:02 PM

great look, sweet light, very nice bg, John. looks nice and sharp too, did you have to crop much?

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

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 11, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Super image, John. Tremendous stare/eye contact. Very sharp, great light and surroundings - very complimentary to harrier.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Scoles on April 11, 2011 at 3:54 AM

Very nice light!! Great photo!! The first thing that popped out at me were the eyes!!

Registered on August 21, 2008, 42 Posts, 214 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 11, 2011 at 8:40 AM

Really nice John. My only wish is that I could see this in a large version.

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

Comment posted by Karen Summers on April 11, 2011 at 9:10 AM

love the eye in this image thats what I noticed straight away, lovely shot

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 11, 2011 at 11:59 AM

John: Gotta love it when you get a great look at the male harrier. You certainly took advantage of it with this result. Very nice. Head turn is fantastic. Congrats on this excellent image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Canning on April 11, 2011 at 12:28 PM

Wow, that is excellent. She's definitely giving you the hairy eyeball!

Registered on February 10, 2004, 88 Posts, 549 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on April 11, 2011 at 1:56 PM

Great flight shot- Pose, expressions, and colours palette are wonderful on this picture- Also the warm BG is perfect with the subject- A beautiful image, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Murali Santhanam on April 11, 2011 at 2:05 PM

Fantastic picture with eyes facing us.

Registered on July 31, 2008, 43 Posts, 331 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 11, 2011 at 3:12 PM

Great eye contact (Hairy Eyeball is Awesome by the way) and excellent feather detail. Super sweet flight photo John

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Nancy Elwood on April 11, 2011 at 3:55 PM

Well John I am soooo jealous

!!! VERY well done, or lets just say perfect!

Registered on January 15, 2010, 101 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on April 11, 2011 at 5:52 PM

Really like the flight posture and direct stare John. IQ looks good at this size and I like the background a lot. Exposure looks very good, even that challenging white rump. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 11, 2011 at 5:54 PM

Ah, the look. Great light and detail, John. Love the wings down pose.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on April 11, 2011 at 6:07 PM

nothing to fault here John.
super image - wish it was mine.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 11, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Wow. It's seeing images like these (that prove it's possible) that keeps my daughter and I out in the field for long hours. I hope one day we will return with pixels that hold as much wonderful power as these do. Outstanding light, outstanding look (pose), oustanding timing, outstanding techs, comp and DOF...all adds up to one outstanding image.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Thirkell on April 11, 2011 at 11:22 PM

Wow.. what a beautiful shot. Great detail and light...love the background !

Registered on March 28, 2011, 9 Posts, 9 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 12, 2011 at 6:13 AM

What a wonderful capture John! While luck may have indeed played an important part, your apparent skill took full advantage of the situation, which I think is a great achievement, extremely well done :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 12, 2011 at 11:43 AM

John,

I like the pose, the look you appear to be getting, the warm tones of the weeds in the background and the comp you used. Sahrpness and details look good at the size posted, would like to have seen them in a larger version. I know only too well how much of a challenge it can be to get harriers looking towards you.

The one thing I'd suggest is a slight WB adjustment, with the warmth of the image I find myself wishing the wing tips were a little bit blacker which would also show more of the gray of this "ghost". Really nice work on the whites, especially the rump!

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 12, 2011 at 2:46 PM

Very nice image you made here John! Love the eyes, the exposure looks great and head turn tops it all off. Very, very nicely done!

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

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on April 12, 2011 at 9:14 PM

Beautiful! Love the glare of death, and the background grasses have the perfect amount of focus IMO.

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

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 12, 2011 at 10:50 PM

That is a beauty! The colors all work so well together.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on April 13, 2011 at 10:41 PM

Outstanding stare and perfect position to the camera. Congrats on a great image. Wish you posted a larger version too.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments