Northern harrier female

[gail bisson]

canon 1D MKIV
F 500mm and 1.4X
ISO 800
SS 1/1600
F 8.0
Hand held, cropped by 25% from bottom and LHS
PP- whites were hot so used DE at 50% on the whites only, crop,levels, USM at 0.3 and 50%. I am not happy with white recovery. I do have another frame where whites aren't blown so I could copy and paste the area in but wanted to see what you thought of this.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail


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[Marina Scarr]

You have a pleasing image here, Gail. I really like the way he is giving you that HA and the inclusion of the environment is a nice plus. I think you did a good job recovering the whites in the tail. If this area were larger, it may be of more concern but that is not the case here. Your harrier pops well against your sky.

[arash_hazeghi]

it's a great frame with good eye contact and nice wing position. I wouldn't worry about whites too much as the rump is really bright for this bird. Overall the harrier is too small in the frame IMO. I would crop this one tighter to show the details better eliminating the horizon line and focusing on the harrier.

[Craig Kerr]

Wonderful pose and like the space you have allowed... super eye contact

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Excellent image Gail, although I would also crop in tighter, I do like the OP for it's space and habitat. Great head angle and love the eye.

[Mike Milicia]

Great eye contact and wing position! Whites look fine at least at this size.

I think you could crop tighter but I would leave the OOF vegetation at the bottom as it anchors the image nicely and provides some sense of habitat.
I would consider taking quite a bit off the top and a bit off the right as needed for composition.

[Karl Egressy]

I look at the overall picture most of the time and don't worry too much of minor details as the blown whites. It is a minor detail in this image.
I would say it is an excellent flight shot with nice head turn and wing position, Gail.

[Melissa Groo]

Great job, Gail. At first from the thumbnail I thought it would be turned away but you've got a great lookback head angle, and I like the wing position a lot. Great sharpness and detail. I'd like to see more of a crop too if you think it can handle it, but it's also very good as is.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Gail! I like the eye contact, wing position, sharpness and complimentary setting. I would like to see a tighter crop.

[dankearl]

This is very nice photo of a Harrier.
I think you could crop it a bit more and not lose IQ.
I do prefer them with habitat as that is how I always see them, so I would not go much larger.
Well done, I am envious, this is a bird I can never get a decent photo of and I see them all the time.

[Satish Ranadive]

Gail:
Every thing has been said about this wonderful flight pose.Love the HA,wing position,nice details and environment too.

Regards,
Satish.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Love the flight pose, excellent head angle, I really like the habitat, and agree on a tighter crop.
Well done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Having read that it is only a small crop I would agree a little more cropping would help. A very pleasing image.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice and sharp, perfect HA. I too love the bit of habitat you have at the bottom. Some off the top would help get it a bit bigger in the frame while keeping a balanced comp. The whites look fine to me here.

[PhilCook]

Aside from suggested cropping the bird has the HA to die for...love the eye contact

[gail bisson]

Thank you everyone for your helpful critiques. I have cropped as you suggested so now this is 60% FF.
I have this thing about not cropping more than 30% ( or 70%FF)... I know that is silly for web images but I can't help it!
Gail