Swainson's Hawk

Gallery: AvianPosted September 23, 2013174 views6 comments

Hi Everyone! I was out for a drive with my dad and sister this summer and we found this Swainson's hawk perched on a fence post. We drove past him and turned around and came back, expecting him to fly off, but he didn't! It was right at the end of the day so there wasn't much light but I was really happy that some of my pictures of him worked out.

Thank you for looking!

Nikon D300
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 1250
1/80sec @ f/4
on beanbag from truck window

Dad's Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Minor adjustments in Nik Color Efex 4 and Viveza 2 in PS5
NR using Nik Dfine 2.0
Cropped to app. 70% of original, slight rotation to correct horizon (there is no additional room on bottom so tail is unfortunately a bit crowded)

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on September 24, 2013 at 11:44 AM

That's a serious looking bird

- lucky you with the bird staying put ! I like the kind of dark atmosphere in the image ! Well done, cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 24, 2013 at 4:58 PM

The soft light in this is very pleasing and I like the overall mood of the image.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on September 24, 2013 at 10:24 PM

Josiah:
This is a very handsome Hawk. You captured a nice pose with a pleasing background. I like all of those parts of the image. I wish there was just a bit more light in the eyes. Still a very nice capture.

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

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 25, 2013 at 8:14 AM

I agree with Richard - the soft light works well here and the amount of light in the eye is sufficient for me, given the conditions.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on October 4, 2013 at 2:04 AM

Hi Josiah - you sure captured a nice look from this Swainson's and I love all the feather detail in the soft light. I can't believe you managed to squeeze this shot off gently enough to keep everything sharp at 1/80th and f/4 at ISO 1250! You obviously used good discipline here. I wish there was a little more room under the tail but his beautiful shoulder and wing feathers, along with a cool older post he perched on, make this a really nice image for me. Keep up the awesome work!

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

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on January 24, 2015 at 4:31 PM

Thank you everyone for commenting on my picture.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments