Splish Splash

[gail bisson]

Red Shouldered hawk after her/his bath! Nothing a brush and blow dryer can't fix!
Canon 7d
F 4 500mm hand held from Jim Neiger's pontoon boat
SS 1/4000
F 5.0
ISo 640
I had my camera settings ready for a flight shot so that is why the high SS and ISO
A fun shot but comments and critiques are what keep me trying to get better!
PP in LR3 and NR in CS5

[Melissa Groo]

Gail, what a whimsical capture of this usually regal creature! I love the comp, eye contact, and unique view of this bird. Wondering if you can lighten the eyes at all, and bring down the brightness of the lighter areas of the image, seems the light may have been a bit harsh. There's also a darkish spot at the end of one of the branch stubs (the upper) that you might want to remove. TFS.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Gail, what a cool shot. Agree with the above critique from Melissa. TFS looks like a wet stuffed animal someone just pulled out of a pool.

Gary.

[gail bisson]

Thanks Melissa. I missed that funny dark spot. Fixed that and lightened the eyes.
Gail

[Chad Caswell]

WOW great mosquito in flight shot :t3:t3 and a bonus Hawk too, love the re-post, nice job capturing this baby!!!

[Stu Bowie]

Good eye contact Gail, and its always good to capture different behavioural shots as this. Yep nothing like a hair dryer that cant fix this. :w3 Repost looks better, and I would maybe tone down the lighter part of the perch LRC. I do like the overall character of the perch.

[arash_hazeghi]

it's a bit of a crazy pose but nice to see what happens after a bath without a hair dryer. How did the hawk get wet BTW?

[gail bisson]

it's a bit of a crazy pose but nice to see what happens after a bath without a hair dryer. How did the hawk get wet BTW?
Hi Arash,
I'm not sure how he got wet. He just flew in and landed on the tree.
Gail
To Chad,
:bg3::bg3:I am glad you like my insect in flight shot!
Gail

[Dumay de Boulle]

HA HA:bg3:...Cool pose and makes for a comedic image!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Too funny!! This guy sure looks surprised that someone saw it in this condition!! The insect adds to the image too:S3: Harshlight, it would be worth revisiting the raw file to tame those highlights on the perch. Not sure about the comp. I realize you may wanted to include the vegetation in lower left, but I still feel a crop from left (half the vegetation) would balance the image out nicely (you could perhaps then add some canvas at right to retain the aspect ratio.)

Well done, and thanks for putting a smile on my face!!

[noelle zaleski]

:bg3::bg3::bg3:

Very funny image Gail, he does look a bit shocked. :e3

[Waqar Amin]

Gail love the pose.
Like the eye contact and blue sky.