Red-tailed hawk take off (with 400DOII)

This frame shows a red tailed hawk taking off to dive at a coot. He wasn't successful this time, but Dave and I grabbed a few good frames. The 400 DO II worked very well in this situation working from a confined space inside the truck. The AF is blazing fast with the 2X III (which I used to capture this frame) on my 1DX. The heat shimmers at this location puts a lot of burden on the optics, but the 400 DO II did well.

Attachment 157447

1D-X 400 DO II + 2X III.ISO 1250. f/8 at 1/3200sec. Hand held from Dave's truck which we used as a blind. Processed with DPP 4.3

I hope you like it

PS. here is my review of 400DO II in case you missed it http://arihazeghiphotography.com/blo...-light-lenses/

Just a superb take-off pose. Another piece of impressive shooting, Arash.

Fantastic timing.

Super take off pose and light on that bird. The bird looks so intense. The dappled BG works nicely.

Perfect timing, excellent take off pose and fine details.

Lovely light, perfect wing positon and pose.
Perch could use some sharpening. He kinda pops right out there; doesn't quite transition well from the tack sharp feet, IMO.

Arash:

Dynamic pose, good details with that combo, soft bg.

Only wish would be for the head ever so slightly more towards us. In reality, it is probably pretty parallel to the sensor, but because the body is angled more towards us, it gives the impression that he is looking away.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Arash,

I quite like and admire this shot.

Upon first glance, the soft perch does not seem "right" given the sharpness of the claws surrounding it, as noted by Kester. Did you selectively sharpen or apply NR in that area?

TFS
Ross

Thanks everyone, Kester and Ross are correct, I masked the bird for sharpening but forgot to include the perch which is on the same focal plane I will correct this
I didn't see this until you pointed out, thanks a lot

I fixed the perch


Attachment 157469

Hi Arash,

That sharpened perch makes all the difference. What a shot!

Ross

Awesome take off shot Arash. The pose is great and I like the concentrated stare as he locks on the coot in front of him. Great looking details from the DO and I like the BG and perch. Need to get a DO soon. That was a fun few days and we sure got into some nice raptors. Well done.

Nice take-off. How far from bird?

Well done Arash, we had a good day. Your processing is always top notch

thanks everyone we were about 30 yards from the hawk.