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Northern Harrier
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Northern Harrier

by Ron Dudley

Gallery: AvianPosted November 25, 2012750 views13 comments
I caught this male lifting off from the shore of the Great Salt Lake in fairly low light for flight shots. The upper background is the frozen lake and the dark debris at bottom (including what's being kicked up by the bird) is windrows of brine fly pupae casings that are carried onto shore by wind and waves.

7D, 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, shot from pickup window on 1/31/12, cropped to 60% of original image, small exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened bird, small increase in contrast, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, no bait, no decoy, not set up or called in

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

13 comments
Comment posted by Tom Lusk on November 25, 2012 at 6:50 PM
Beautiful! Absolutely no nits from me. :toast:
Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments
Comment posted by Barb Pflaum on November 25, 2012 at 7:09 PM
Excellent capture! I love the pose and the way he's flying toward you. Nice bg.
Registered on January 14, 2009, 316 Posts, 2724 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 25, 2012 at 8:03 PM
KIller flight action Ron!!! The large version is a pleasure to view. Nice details and flying debree.

Ken Archer
Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments
Comment posted by Luke Ormand on November 25, 2012 at 8:52 PM
Love the head-on and the extended talons are great.. light is a touch flat, maybe adjust the WB a touch
Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Graham on November 25, 2012 at 9:37 PM
Great pose and eye contact.
Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments
Comment posted by wade pettitt on November 25, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Ron, I love the wing position and talons down look.
Registered on May 6, 2009, 184 Posts, 471 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Ramy on November 25, 2012 at 11:04 PM
Ron this is a pretty bird and you made a great capture. I like the way you framed it with regards to the position of the wings. Looks like it was a cold day to be out. :cool:
Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on November 26, 2012 at 3:18 PM
Very nice action and typically excellent technicals all around.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by jack jaeger jr on November 26, 2012 at 9:44 PM
Great capture love the detail.
Registered on April 2, 2012, 26 Posts, 355 Comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 26, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Wonderful pose with the flying casings, and a great look at that face.
Your usual fine detail, perfect comp, and techs.
:toast:
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Hackley on November 27, 2012 at 5:34 PM
Wonderful take off shot, I really like the eye contact, the way the tail feathers are spread out and seeing the debris kicked up, nice job in getting this Ron, well done.
Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments
Comment posted by Doug Gilham on November 27, 2012 at 7:27 PM
Your shots are always inspiring to me Ron.
Registered on September 20, 2009, 77 Posts, 489 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 27, 2012 at 7:38 PM
No nits from me Ron. Nice to see a male. Hardly ever see them here. Hopefully you will have a great harrier winter this winter, not like last year. Fingers crossed.
Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments