Male Northern Harrier

[Bonnie Block]

http://www.pbase.com/herderdog/image/119325006/original.jpg

I hope this is not too much "hand of man". If it is, moderators please move it for me.
This particular area has no perches except old fence posts and water pipes. The birds make good use of these.

Last of our good light for awhile--they are talking a little snow tomorrow???

Canon 7d 500 L IS + 1.4 TC
1/1600s f/9.0 at 700.0mm iso640

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Bonnie Block: A striking portrait of one of my favorite raptors in warm light. Pretty cool layer cake background as well with some nice prairie grass up front. A little problem with the water pipe because its such a nice rusty color that I find myself glancing at it a little too much. Also, another pass across the eyes with some sharpening might improve an already gorgeous image. Take care.

[Harshad Barve]

Except perch everything looks spot on
TFS

[Steve Large]

Hi Bonnie,
Very nice post here. Great light and sharp focus with good feather detail. We don't often get to see the male harrier. I usually can only find the brown females at our estuary here in Nanaimo. Good luck with your hunt for the upcoming Short Eared Owls this winter.

Steve

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

If it weren't for the post, this would be the most captivating Harrier image I have ever seen. Love the environment and stare. Those eyes are just insane. A little more sharpening please. :)

[RakeshDhareshwar]

This is a gorgeous potrait in awesome light . Am sure it can take some more sharpening .

[Rohan Kamath]

agree with all on more sharpening... I personally have no issues with the perch coz even though we all want natural perches, lets face it...most birds have started adapting to our created surroundings... the only thing i wish is the the far eye were either completely seen or not at all... the tiny yellow speck distracts... but thats only a personal choice...

-Cheers,
Rohan
__________________________________________________
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice shot with good eye contact. Head and wing are sharp but neck area is soft(?) Did you have your blur mask bleed into the neck?

I wish he was on a better perch.

[Danny Laredo]

Well thats wild for you, one never know which perch they would prefer.
Still an excellent image.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Excellent light, pose, shooting angle, BG. I dont mind man-made perches as much as others. Another vote for USM on the bird.

KD

[denise ippolito]

Bonnie, I keep coming back to this and I have to tell you-the BG colors are so nice and IMO compliment the bird very nicely. I agree a bit more sharpening wouldn't hurt but I do like it as presented-manmade post and all

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nice light and setting here..

[paul leverington]

Wow Bonnie!--this is so close the detail is awesome. I'm so envious as the male is just so majestic looking and for the most part rather elusive for me.

If you were to set up some great looking perches, sooner or later he and others would be using them. Seems like that's all you need at this point as you have the subject, light, and most of all some backgrounds. If you make them with a stable base you would be able to fine tune their position anytime for best angle. I either set mine in a base of crack resistant concrete if they are smaller or fabricate a stand of 2X wood and sometimes steel angle iron for the larger ones. Or you could just make a hole in the ground and set the stick/perch in it. I would recommend putting much thought into the selection of the perch. Often this is not done and the whole thing is rather a lost opportunity.

Paul

[David Fletcher]

Lovely shot Bonnie. Great pose and lighting. another pass of sharpening as mentioned. no issues with post as may make image more sellable. Nicely done.

[Fabs Forns]

The Great Ghost!!!!
I'm so jealous!!
We've got one local, but keeps to himself.
I may tone down the perch so it's more low key.

[James Salywoda]

Stunning! A great bird to get a shot of. Well Done

[Bonnie Block]

Thanks everyone for your generous comments.
I am not sure I would be welcome to put my own perch in this area--it is a nature preserve. There are quite a few old fence posts as well--and a few low lying natural logs. I might get lucky sometime on one of those.