Red-tailed Hawk
by Ron Dudley
I caught this juvenile as it was taking off for prey (usually voles) from these rocks on Antelope Island. Most of his/her hunting forays were unsuccessful as I think the hawk was still honing its relatively undeveloped hunting skills.
7D, 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window on 9/5/12, cropped to 60% of original image, small exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened bird and some of the rocks, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, no bait, no decoy, not set up or called in
Larger version provided
Comments/critique appreciated
Comments
12 commentsExcellent pose, love the trailing legs, and great habitat.
Your usual perfect techs and detail.
Sandy
(I thought about saying nothing, Ron, but I reduced it to the minimalist version in "wow")
Now, that having been said, I think this is a perfect time to bring back the words of Alexander Pope, a poet, who once wrote something called "An Essay on Criticism" ; the term 'criticism' being synonymous with 'critique', I think, although his subject was poetry rather than photography. He made a statement I agree with about art which I think applies more generally:.
First follow NATURE, and your Judgment frame
By her just Standard, which is still the same:
Unerring Nature, still divinely bright,
One clear, unchang'd and Universal Light,
Life, Force, and Beauty, must to all impart,
At once the Source, and End, and Test of Art
Your image makes the bar of all three of those criteria, Ron: Life, force, and beauty. It doesn't get much better than this.
Sweet Photo!!!
Ken Archer