Red-Tailed Hawk Dines on Coot

[Melissa Groo]

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
500mm + 1.4x
Resting on car window.

ISO 640
f/6.3
1/1000 sec

Full frame.

Took this a couple days ago at a local park, happened upon this hawk eating a coot it had plucked out of the nearby water (Cayuga Lake). It was middle of the day, and pretty sunny out, so most of my pics were a bit too glare-y, but the sun went behind a cloud a few times and I took this shot then. Wish I could have been lower, but I did not want to disturb her meal, and getting out of the car would most certainly have spooked her.

If anyone is interested, I can post another pic within this thread, that shows the coot's green foot, as that definitively shows its identity.

I hope you like it. I greatly appreciate all and any critiques/comments.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Pin sharp and well exposed. I appreciate it is full frame I may be tempted to add a little more canvas. Excellent shot the horizon would perhaps have looked a little more pleasing had you been able to get a little lower though I appreciate this was impracticable.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Melissa, I like this perspective as is, it doesnt look like you could have gone any lower. :w3 Good to the varoius colours on this Hawk, a hint of his kill, and he looks like a pretty powerful fellow.

[Grace Scalzo]

A great find, Melissa. Given that you were in a fixed position and could not alter your angle, I like how the hawk's head is in front of a dark place in the horizon. You handled the light well...glad that the sun is not as high in the sky as during the summer. Love the expanding crop. Only suggestion that I have is to work on the eye a bit, the light in the upper half takes away from its pop a bit. And I would slightly sharpen the head a bit more. Thanks for sharing this one, it is a powerful image of the hunter and the hunted.

[Gary Esman]

Nice catch Melissa! Exposure looks great. Awesome birds these red tails are. The head looks a little blurred here. I am wondering, since this is a full frame shot if the IQ suffered during compression. That look means "do not think about taking my snack". Just thought you would like to know:S3:.

Gary

[Melissa Groo]

Nice catch Melissa! Exposure looks great. Awesome birds these red tails are. The head looks a little blurred here. I am wondering, since this is a full frame shot if the IQ suffered during compression. That look means "do not think about taking my snack". Just thought you would like to know:S3:.

Gary

Ha! Yes, I got the same vibe from that look, and knew I dared draw no nearer.
So--maybe a stupid question, Gary--is a full frame image susceptible to more degradation through compression than a crop? Is there anything I should be doing differently when resizing/posting a full frame?
Here is a repost with Grace's excellent suggestion to fix the eye up a bit, as well as some darkening of the BG a little, and a tad more sharpening. Hope it's an improvement.

[Melissa Groo]

A great find, Melissa. Given that you were in a fixed position and could not alter your angle, I like how the hawk's head is in front of a dark place in the horizon. You handled the light well...glad that the sun is not as high in the sky as during the summer. Love the expanding crop. Only suggestion that I have is to work on the eye a bit, the light in the upper half takes away from its pop a bit. And I would slightly sharpen the head a bit more. Thanks for sharing this one, it is a powerful image of the hunter and the hunted.

Thanks so much for your thoughts, Grace, wonderful as always. Have tried to fix the eye up a bit, and sharpen head a little more. Hope repost is an improvement.

[Gary Esman]

Ha! Yes, I got the same vibe from that look, and knew I dared draw no nearer.
So--maybe a stupid question, Gary--is a full frame image susceptible to more degradation through compression than a crop? Is there anything I should be doing differently when resizing/posting a full frame?
Here is a repost with Grace's excellent suggestion to fix the eye up a bit, as well as some darkening of the BG a little, and a tad more sharpening. Hope it's an improvement.

Good question Melissa. Some others may have to weigh in on this because I am no expert. I am wondering why the tail is sharp and the head is a little blurred. They seem to be pretty close to being on the same plain. It would seem that at a shutter speed of1/1000 it would freeze any movement. Also, if you were using a center focal point the wings would be the sharpest area of the shot, but the tail seems a little sharper. Maybe I need new glasses?:S3: Might be a learning experience for both of us. I have noticed, especially on shore birds, the heads seem to have a little less IQ than the rest of the body. But, it is never really mentioned in the critiques. Looking forward to any responses.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice pose and details. The problem here is lack of output sharpening, the IQ is good but the file has not been sharpened enough

It will be a lot better to start from RAW


104005

[Melissa Groo]

Really nice job,Arash. Can you tell me what sharpening method/program you used? Thanks a lot for the redo.

[arash_hazeghi]

Really nice job,Arash. Can you tell me what sharpening method/program you used? Thanks a lot for the redo.

smart sharpen in PS.

[gail bisson]

What a terrific find! Are you enjoying the new camera? Love Arash's repost. I really like the feather detail and the head turn.
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Are you enjoying the new camera?
Gail

I sure am, Gail. Now if only there were some birds around to practice on, they've all fled the scene!:2eyes2:

[Grace Scalzo]

Right on the money, Arash.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Melissa, liked what Arash did about sharpening. its one of the most important things with digital capture.

loved the low angle and the HA...what an opportunity. well done.