Great Black Hawk

[Bill Dix]

From the Peruvian Amazon last year, taken from a moving skiff in a small tributary.

D7200, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 1000, 1/800s @ f/7.1 manual. Cropped from horizontal.

[gail bisson]

What a great bird! perfect for the theme.
I like the raised foot and the branch that looks like an umbrella.
The color of the sky seems a bit odd. Did you have to overexpose this to get the blacks properly exposed for?
I would reduce the luminance in the blues in LR to bring back a more natural sky color,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Gail. I did expose in-camera for the blacks, and for once I got it right. The histogram shows it spot-on, with no clipping on the right. The sky here looks very much like the RAW file -- a hazy bright sky with a slight blue tint. I don't recall what, if anything, I did to it in post. It's possible I boosted the saturation slightly. I'll take a look at reducing it.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Beautiful Bill. Very nice slightly hazy day lent itself to getting a spot-on exposure on the rich blacks of this hawk. Wonderfull detail and I love the raised clenched talon, and the intense gaze.




Geoffrey

http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image, Bill Sir. Very nice pose with raised foot and thoughtful eye.
Superb blacks.

Regards,
Satish.