I see you!

Even with the busy BG the hawk is nicely shown. It does look well exposed, but it is a bit soft. Did you hand hold, use a monopod or tripod? You have nice detail in the hawk, and a good pose you caught it in. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the input John. I was using a beanbag on my window. I may have forgotten to shut the engine off.

Hi Greg, welcome! Great pose from the hawk. The background is busy as you say and even if you were into cloning it would be challenging with all the branches intersecting the bird. The light and composition look good to me. Nice shot!

Greg: Welcome to NPN. Thanks for posting.

I think you've hit most of the issues. The background is very busy. It would not be worth cloning in my opinion. The bird is a bit soft, especially evident in the larger version. At 1/1000 I'm guessing it isn't camera shake. Looks like focus tracking was off just a bit. Close, but not quite as sharp as we all hope for. Still a good effort.

We look forward to more of your images, and having your comments on other photographers work.

Hi Welcome Greg
All been said I reckon.
Cheers
John

Hi Greg,
These red shouldered hawks make beautiful subjects with their splotches of white, red shoulder patches and bi-colored bills. We have a few in the winter in my neck of the woods here in Indiana too, but it isn't very often I get a chance to get a photo. From what you said, I'm not sure if you did much sharpening in your processing? If not, you might try some selective sharpening on the bird and see if that helps. If not, it sounds like he may hang around and give you another chance at a sharper shot.

Hi Greg. Welcome to NPN. This is a great place to learn, so keep posting and be prepared to learn a lot. This is a really nice first post. Getting a stellar image of a flying bird is not easy, even for very experienced photographers. I really like the position of the hawk and the fact that you can see his talons. The color pattern on the wings is clearly visible and that is very nice. The background is what it is. You will find that there are NPN members that like natural shots like this and some that like a cleaner background. You will also find purists and cloners (smile). I do find the image a little soft. This could be for two reasons. The Tamron at 600mm is softer than at the smaller focal lengths. Also, the shutter speed of 1/1000s may not have been fast enough to entirely freeze the action. I have a 7D Mark II. I have found that I can bump the ISO to 1600 with little to no noise. So, you might be aware that you can bump the ISO a bit to gain more shutter speed which will ensure that slow shutter speed is not a contributor to soft images. Overall, well done. I also encourage you to post comments, even if you don't think you are qualified just yet. All comments are welcome and valued.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I will bump that ISO up and see if I can attain a sharper image.

Jerry (or anyone), would it be better to leave my lens around 400mm, then do more cropping in post?

Thanks again,
Greg

Greg,

That's something you will have to determine for yourself after you get more familiar with your lens an camera combination.

Jerry

Hi Greg, welcome to NPN! The others have covered things well, so I'll just chime in about your last question. It's best to minimize cropping to the greatest extent possible, as greater cropping generally results in more visible noise and less fine detail. I'm not familiar with the lens you're using, so you'll have to experiment to see if it's worth backing off on the focal length or not. Best solution of all (and the hardest but most rewarding) is to study your subjects, learn their habits, be patient, and eventually get close enough for that perfect shot.

Thanks, Brian and Jerry for responding. I am learning to get closer. Pelicans are more interesting than I ever knew.