Black Hawk Eagle, immature

[Bill Dix]

It was quite a surprise to come across this proud young fellow as we drove down the road from the Lamanai Outpost in Belize. I only wish I had caught him with his crest raised. Right after I got a few frames, he took off in pursuit of a Snowy Egret, which he failed to capture. Straightened (in my haste I didn't level the tripod), removed a strand of barbed wire, NR and USM.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual.

[ramesh anantharaman]

Hello Bill,

The pose and the details are what I love about this image. And the BG is soo beautiful.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful image of a majestic bird. Nice color, detail, and composition.

[gail bisson]

A new bird for me.
Love the tall, imperious pose and the clean BG.
I feel this could use a bit more sharpening around the post ( almost looks like you did NR on the post).
Is this a big crop Bill? The IQ seems a bit off from your usual standards.
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, what a stately pose, and great feather detail. Im fine with the weathered post, and I do like the clean BG.

[John Robinson]

Fine looking bird Bill. I like the ununusual black chest markings.
It does look a teeny bit contrasty - butmaybe me monitor messing again !!
Can't leave it alone !
Cheers
John

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image, Bill Sir.
Great pose, looks like he has posed for you. Love the frame.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bill Dix]

A new bird for me.
Love the tall, imperious pose and the clean BG.
I feel this could use a bit more sharpening around the post ( almost looks like you did NR on the post).
Is this a big crop Bill? The IQ seems a bit off from your usual standards.
Gail

Thanks Gail. This isn't a huge crop. It was shot vertically, and as posted is 77% of full height. Here's a repost with some additional sharpening. I don't know what happened to the post; no NR applied. But something strange did occur in the camera. AF Fine-tune is set at +12 for this body+lens combo, but for the frames of this bird, and one other (a nice Crane Hawk) it reverted to +0 according to the EXIF. So the focus isn't quite as sharp as it should be, and is especially noticeable on the Crane Hawk. Maybe it was the tropical humidity?? The camera did seem to be acting strangely, but has cleared itself up, possibly because I cleaned all the contacts.

[Rob Melone]

What a striking capture Bill of this regal hawk eagle! Nice vertical comp. with spot-on exp, sharpness and pleasing bg. It was a pleasure shooting with you yesteday Bill!

[Geoffrey Montagu]

What a pose from this very striking raptor. Well handled bright light, and I like the pensive stare in the beautifully lit eye.





Geoffrey

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Repost looks much better! a nice raptor in good light. BG is super clean, well done Bill!