Cooper's Hawk "Dorsal View"

[James Salywoda]

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
Southern California

I took a long break from photography but took the rig out recently looking for Hawks arriving on territory
for the winter. These guys are always tough I guess I just don't get many chances with this species.


Nikon D300s AFS 600 F4 1.4 TC
1/1600 F6.3 ISO 1000

Thanks For Looking

Jim

[Tin Man Lee]

That's stunning and have a 3D feel with superb sharpness. Beautiful details on the top side, and lovely background. Perfect shot!
I tried so many times of capturing cooper's hawk in flight and they always flied away whenever I looked away just for a split second...

[dankearl]

Excellent. My first impression was that it was a bit tight in the photo, my second impression is that it is **** near a perfect
in-flight photo. I can see a little noise on the bird but really that is so nitpicking.
The head and eye contact and the wingspan and tail fan are really good.

[Alan Murphy]

One of the best images I have seen of this species. Wish it was mine Jim.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Excellent flight shot as always, love the sharpness, the exposure and the flight pose. Background looks a bit busy but that's alright.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Welcome back Jim!
You've started where you left off
Perfect pose, sharpness, bg - awesome work as always.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Gorgeous shot with a great angle and nice eye contact. Cool bg too.

[Grace Scalzo]

Good for you, Jim. Missed you....stunning work as usual.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice to see your perfect images again. Great to see you back and hope that all is A-OK. You might tone down the large orangish circle upper left with a large 40% Clone Stamp Tool or you might not.... Killer either way.

[Tom Rambaut]

Just stunning!

[Herb Houghton]

Beautiful topside view Jim. I like the perfect DOF and the BGD looks great.

[Shreeni Rao]

Beautiful IF picture Jim. I love the angle !

[arash_hazeghi]

Amazing shot Jim, I am jealous:bg3:

[Gary Esman]

Hi James, glad to see you posting again, you obviously have been missed. Fantastic shot as always! Very impressive.

Gary.

[Ofer Levy]

Superb Salywoda stuff! I was about to send you a PM as this place is not the same without you! Welcome back my friend great to see your top notch work again! Keep them coming! :cheers:

[Marina Scarr]

Nothing like coming back with a bang! Nice to see you posting again.

[MohsenVahedipour]

What a great shot. Excellent dorsal pose, sharpness & detail. TFS

[ramesh anantharaman]

Super sharp image with a killer BG. love the shot.

[Mital Patel]

James this is extremely beautiful image ... pose light speed freeze everything is in harmony.

i found those bg patches little heavy so did some cloning touchup.
hope you would like it.

[christopher galeski]

nice one,good detail,nice flight pose.well done.ps,wellcome back.thanks.

[Karl Egressy]

Despite the long break you still have what it takes to create FANTASTIC flight shots, James.

[Stu Bowie]

I wondered where you have been.:w3 Excellent 3D effect here, and just love the dorsal view. You have absolutely nailed this in every way.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi James all has been said about this superb image with your trademark sharp and detailed feather pattern, look forward to more.

[James Salywoda]

Thanks for the nice words and comments the repost looks great Mital.

[Ofer Levy]

I actually like the OP more than the repost. Removing the darker areas takes away the lovely 3D effect and the image loses impact IMHO. Maybe slightly brightening these dark areas could help.