Red-tailed Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted August 23, 2011759 views16 comments

I found this hawk deep in a canyon in the Stansbury Mtns of Utah's west desert a month ago. I should have lowered my ISO for this one but I was alternately shooting this bird and its apparent siblings in flight and perched and just... forgot.

7D, 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 7/29/11, slight exposure adjustment in ACR, cropped to 68% of original image, sharpened bird and perch, cloned out 4 pixels of distracting bright white debris on a wing feather, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, not set up or baited

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on August 23, 2011 at 7:34 PM

Super sharp, Ron. I love the posture of the bird and the very nice light. Overall comp is wonderful with a great BG. Nothing more you could have gotten out of this shot. Very well done.

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

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on August 23, 2011 at 9:24 PM

Ron, what a wonderful pose you captured of this hawk. What stands out the most is the intense stare from the eye.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 23, 2011 at 9:32 PM

Very regal pose and a sweet bg, Ron. The 640 iso doesn't seem to have hurt-I don't see any significant noise.

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

Comment posted by KC Choo on August 23, 2011 at 9:50 PM

Very nice, Ron! Your high standard is shown here again!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on August 23, 2011 at 11:41 PM

Beautiful capture of this awesome hawk Ron! Great detail and pose, and I love the direction of the light falling of the hawk. Excellent work.

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 24, 2011 at 12:49 AM

Have to agree with everyone else, high quality image. I find it very challenging to get close to these guys around here, unfortunately. The upper branch has the appearance of poking him/her in the abdomen, not a biggy, but would be a little better if it weren't there. A real pleasure to view.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 24, 2011 at 1:45 AM

THis guy has an attitude!
Great pose, a nice look at the back feathers, interesting perch.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 24, 2011 at 9:00 AM

love the pose, light and detail, Ron. I might bring down the exposure on the bright bit of branch between the tail and wingtips to bring it more in line with the rest of the branches but that is just being picky.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on August 24, 2011 at 6:03 PM

What a great pose from the hawk, I like the directional light to bring out the feather details and eye contact, wonderful shot Ron, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Doug Gilham on August 24, 2011 at 6:06 PM

Love the eye with the great catchlight, and the way the OOF tree in BG fans around the hawk. Very nice capture Ron.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 77 Posts, 489 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on August 24, 2011 at 7:28 PM

I Really like the pose and light on this one Ron. Nice perch also.

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on August 24, 2011 at 8:57 PM

I find it a very beautiful shot as posted, Ron. What appear to be shafts of light resemble spotlights on this bird. It certainly looks proud to be on stage. I see no adverse consequences of the higher ISO. Great detail and sharpness. I like the exposure and that bg is terrific. .

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

Comment posted by Angela McCain on August 24, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Fantastic detail and wonderful clarity in the eye. As always...

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 25, 2011 at 1:22 PM

Outstanding image Ron. Nice to get that close to a red-tailed.
May

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 29, 2011 at 1:01 PM

The light on this Red-tailed is excellent Ron! The angle of light really makes this for me. Sure ideally you wanted a lower ISO, but I don't think your ISO hurt you here at all. Excellent work!

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

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on September 1, 2011 at 7:43 PM

Wow, great image! I love that pose he's doing, it almost looks like he's very proud about something. Great detail in the feathers, but its too bad about that branch going through his stomach. It's a big bonus to have that catchlight in his eye, it looks like you were shooting in some really nice light! Awesome image, Ron!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments