Juv. Red-tailed hawk on a wire

[Richard Stern]

Normally I'm not crazy about images of birds perched on wires, but I thought this recent one was acceptable, partly because of the staring look. Taken from resting on the car window (no beanbag) near my home. Mid-afternoon light.

D300, 300 4/4 AF-S +1.4TC.

1/1600, f/9.0, ISO800

Cropped, sharpened, nr in Lightroom 3.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Richard, this hawk looks quite concentrated on something! The vertical comp was the way to go, but the harsh light did not do you any favours here. Quite contrasty as a result. The image also shows signs of oversharpening (halos), especially along the contours of the hawk and wire.

[Doug Brown]

Good sharpness. Daniel gave a solid critique. The whites look a little overexposed.