Female Hen Harrier in Flight

[John Wright]

This afternoon I tried photographing harriers in flight again, using the suggestions from forum members in response to my last post. I used my vehicle as a "blind" and selected a different location from the last post.

Canon EOS 7D, EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM, 1.4x TC, Gitzo GT3531 Mountaineer tripod, Gitzo GH3780QR ballhead

1/1250 sec at f/5.6; ISO 400

crop, nr, resizing, sharpening (LR3/PSE 9)

[Jan Fourie]

Great posture and light under wings with good comp and eye contact

[Hendri Venter]

I like the flight posture, BG and underwing detail. On my monitor the image looks a tad dark though.

[Randy Stout]

John:

I prefer this pose to the previous straight on one, and the band of clouds adds a lot of interest to the background.

Interesting rim lighting effect caused by the angle of light. That angle has also left the near side in shadow.
If you haven't already, it would be worth some subtle lightening of the shaded areas, esp. the eye.

It has to be very subtle so as not to look artificial, but I think there is some room to work there.

Keep working those Harriers:)

Cheers

Randy

[allanrube]

Great pose. Clouds add to the bg.
I would try shadow/highlight to see if you can bring out more in the dark areas.

[John Wright]

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I went back into PSE 9 and lightened the shadows...better?

[allanrube]

Repost is much better - great shot.

[John Wright]

Thanks, Allan! :)