Golden Eagle

[Tim Rucci]

GOSHAWK (not golden eagle)

I was out hiking this afternoon in Denali National Park and was fortunate to walk up on a goshawk eating his kill. I was even luckier that he allowed me to approach and get a few photos. The bird did see me, so I approached very slowly and from the side, hoping to increase my chances that he would not leave the scene. Light was at a premium under the canopy of trees, and I was carrying a slow lens to minimize the weight. I fired off some shots first in natural light, but I just wasn't getting the shot, so I threw on the flash and ended up with this shot and some others. I may post a full length shot tomorrow.

IMAGE DETAILS: Canon 1D Mk2N, Canon 100-400L IS lens with Canon 1.4x extender, hand held 1/160 at f8, iso 800, Av mode with fill flash.

Post processing: Just a little shadow/highlight adjustment, and some noise reduction on the background. I hate shooting iso 800, but sometimes it's necessary.

[Roy Priest]

Tim, this is a great shot of a Goshawk so maybe this wasn't the picture you intended to show. This would be a northern goshawk and as a rule they are way tamer and less tempermental than southern birds. Maybe you could lighten a little under the chin.

[Alma K Bailey]

Very beautiful Bird , I like the intense look in its eyes.. Nice clarity..

[Tim Rucci]

Thank you for your comments. To clarify the confusion, I started to post a different photo and forgot to change the title of the thread before I posted it. I learned today that it's apparently impossible to change the title once you post, although you are able to edit the test of the post itself. I searched through the different options but was unable to change it. Perhaps if Blake or one of the administrators reads this, they may have a way to change the title of the thread to 'goshawk'.

I would deleted the post and reposted it correctly, but could not find a way to do that either. If I am missing something, I hope someone will chime in and enlighten me.

Thanks...