Lunch Time

Gallery: AvianPosted March 11, 2014150 views6 comments

Hey everyone! Here's one from last summer. My dad and I were driving the back roads near our home when I spotted this hawk. I quickly realized that he was eating something, so I got into position as quickly as I could.

I love the intense look in his eyes! Also, for those that are wondering, the halo around the hawk was there before processing in PS, but we're going to look back and see if it somehow got emphasized in the tweaks we did in RAW conversion. The OOF "blob" behind the hawk is a large round hay bale.

I look forward to hearing what y'all think!

Thanks for lookin'!

Nikon D600
Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 ED VR lens with 1.4TC
ISO 640
1/1250sec @ f/6.3
handheld from truck window

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on March 11, 2014 at 10:06 PM

Very nice detail, light and composition. the background works very well, except the white spot in the lower right is a bit distracting.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 11, 2014 at 10:15 PM

Jenaya: Very nice image. Love the intense look at the prey that it is eating. Nice sharpness. I do wish for a couple of things. I'd tone down the hay bale and/or remove it. It really competes for attention. I would have also liked to see more light on this side of the hawk as this is backlit. Another image where fill flash would have allowed you to deal with the ambient exposure of the background as a separate element in the image, using just a touch of fill to help light up the eye and this side of the hawk.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 11, 2014 at 10:34 PM

Excellent detail and pose, Jenaya. The back lighting works for me. I do wish the hay bale weren't there.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 12, 2014 at 12:16 AM

Really nice image!
I'd also clone out the OOF hay bale.
The underside of the hawk has an odd yellow that isn't great - some selective brightening of this area would help, as well as selective lightening of the darker areas of the hak. I'd urge you to get Viveza, as this program will work wonders to salvage things like these issues.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 12, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Love the hawk and the intensity of it over its prey. I agree on making the bale go away. Darkening it won't help in this case. Keith's tip on fill flash is the way to go at point of capture. Sandy's suggestion is the one of the easier ways to deal with controlling the effective lighting on a subject or the BG in post processing. If you or your dad are interested in that option check on the "Google Collection". Google bought Nik and is now the source for all of the older Nik programs. I think they sell the entire suite now for about $150.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on March 15, 2014 at 12:04 AM

Hi Jenaya,
I love the intense look of the eyes just as you do. The image is tack sharp as well. I am distracted quite a bit by the hay bail and if possible would remove it. I'm not any good at that but you might be. Also, it looks like you might have lightened the bird in post processing as I see some sort of halo around a large portion of the bird. Don't know if that's from PP or if that is actually part of the scene but I do notice something there. Love the setting and background coloration and I actually like the fact that it's backlit. Does not bother me but Keith gives some really good advice when confronted with this type of opportunity.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments