Baby Red-tail Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted May 2, 201181 views4 comments

A friend took me to Big Morongo Wildlife Reserve near Twenty-nine Palms, California on Sunday. What a wonderful day; saw three firsts (for me species), Vermilion Flycatcher, Lawerence’s Goldfinch and a Hooded Oriole. We were shooting a Redtail eating a recent kill when we noticed a nest above us and there were two yet to fledge chicks on a limb. They were in the shadows and I had to set the ISO high to get a decent exposure. We hoped for the two to get together but the one to the left stayed in a area of leaves. We sure enjoyed this little fellow.

Cropped to 30% of full frame. I wanted to eliminate a lot of the bright highlights in the BG and show as much detail as possible.

Comments are appreciated.

05-01-2011 7:20 a.m.
Canon 7D
EF 500 4L
Exp Comp = + 1/3
F/4.5
1/500
ISO 800
Tripod

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Doug Egging on May 2, 2011 at 11:12 PM

You definitely got the detail! The bg works great for helping with the detail. I also enjoy the pose with the beak open. Thanks for sharing!

Registered on April 26, 2011, 3 Posts, 18 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 2, 2011 at 11:48 PM

those are 3 sweet lifers, Harry, all beautiful birds. this hawk gave you a fantastic pose, with the open bill, and the details look quite good for 30%. I do find the highlights a little too bright and would consider reducing the exposure on them quite a bit. I wouldn't mind a hair more room on the bottom for the virtual tail, but don't know if that's a great idea because it could make the branch seem rather heavy.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 3, 2011 at 1:59 PM

Good detail on the young hawk with the open beak. Too bad you could not get a better angle to reduce those bright spots. Thanks for the information on where you took this. We just got back from Joshua Tree NP and I did not know about this, so next trip over there we will definitely check this place out.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 4, 2011 at 10:47 PM

Harry - wonderful pose here!
Really nice detail too.
The bright highlights are very hot - a program like (a free trial) Viveza would do the trick.
Exellent!
Sandy

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