Red Tailed Hawk About to Take off

Hi All,

This image was taken couple of weeks back at Provo Bay, UT.

Though it was not the most sharpest image I ever took, I just liked the moment.

Nikon D500
ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec
Manual Mode, Matrix Metering

Post processing:-

Cropped to the right and bottom a little and extended canvas at the top.
Contrast Unsharpen Mask on the face
Nik 25 Receipt and Noise Reduction

Thanks for watching.


Thanks
Krishna

Looks sharp to me like the up wing position.

I really like the thickness of the wings here. Quite the bulky fella. Good call adding canvas up there. Nicely done.

Looks sharp enough to me on my monitor, excellent timing with the full wings up pose

Mike

All looks good to me. What lens?

with love, artie

Hi Artie,

This was taken with 300mm f/4 PF lens with 1.4x TCIII Teleconverter.

Thanks
Krishna

Love the pose and BG, the eye is nice as well. Perch looks very weathered as well. Nicely done. That 300 PF lens seems like a great deal between the f/4 stop and the weight. TFS

Yes its so light. Its lighter than a 24-70 lens. It works really well with 1.4x and 1.7x Teleconverters. I did not yet use it with 2x but will do it some time soon.

Hand holdable 420mm f/5.6 (1.4x TC) and 510 f/7.1 (1.7x TC)

Thanks
Krishna

very nice pose and BG, the hawks head looks a bit soft to my eye, was the RAW sharp? My guess is the RAW wasn't all that sharp as you mention.

whites are a bit too bright and washed out

great BG and I don't mind the perch with hand of man.

TFS

Hi Arash,

I agree, the RAW image was not that sharp especially at the eye. I just liked the moment ( this is my first Image of the species ) and hence post processed the same.

I added contrast mask on the eye and it looking ok to me.

Thanks
Krishna