Red-tailed Hawk

Ann P. and I are just back from SoCal and 4 fantastic shooting days with Dave Salem.Shot over 5000 frames :Whoa!:. We had simply incredible opportunities with hawks, harriers and kestrels on 3 of the 4 days.
It was a "slamen' Salem shoot and I highly recommend a workshop with him. A lot of fun to meet him and Glenn Conlan, Kirk Benson and Tim Foltz. Saw Artie at La Jolla as well.
I have started picking favorites in a chronological order and this is from day 1.
Canon 1 DX 600mm and 1.4x
ISO 1250 f 5.6 SS 1/1000
PP: Crop to 75% FF, usual LR sliders, levels in photoshop,NR to BG, dodged the perch and cloned some poo off the branch to the left of bird.USM to JPEG
Posting this at 1600 pixels wide.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

Gail, very nice frame, glad to hear you had a fun and productive time. Looks like Dave's new truck blind is a winner.
Great details, BG, catchlight and colors. It was nice meeting you also.

-Tim

Looks good to me Gai, fine focus good DOF and detail tones equally on the bird. Just a slight consideration over lowering the brightness of the tip of the perch.

Nice one, Gail. A great over-the-shoulder look, and a spectacular painterly background. Before reading Jonathan's comment I had the same thought: reducing the brightness of the perch, just a tad. Sounds like a great trip.

Gail,
Excellent control of exposure and details are sharp. Wonderful pose and composition, with a gorgeous BG. Well done. Indeed, a wonderful productive private workshop tailored for our needs. David Salem got us on the birds and it was a hawk bonanza! Location, location, location!!! What a beautiful red-tail, darker than what I'm used to here on the East coast. Sure, little more poo clean-up and bring down the highlighted areas on the perch, easy peazeee

very nice capture good bg

Gail:

Outstanding image. Angle of the light gives it a very nice 3D feel, coupled with the soft BG.

Congrats

Randy

This is very nice . Lovely 'Salemville' background. Young bird? The whites flecked through this bird add plenty to the overall image. Sounds as though you had a great time own there.I went there 14 months ago with David and loved every minute .Look forward the Kestrels and Merlins? to come.

Beautiful bird, perfect background with wonderful painterly feel. I concur with comments regarding the perch. Other than that I cannot see how you could improve the image. Thank you for sharing, Gail.

Well, I can't wait to see your other shots Gail but glad I'm not the one having to work through that many frames. The light is beautiful here and love that background. Great perch and composition too. Oh, and congratulations on getting seven? images shortlisted in UK-based Bird Photographer of the Year. Well deserved.

Great looking frame Gail. Love the pose with the wing slightly hanging and the tail showing well. The details, colors and BG all look fantastic too!! This is your first post!! Cant wait to see all the others!!

It was great to finally meet and shoot together and I am super happy that the stars all lined up for us for the days that you and Ann were here. It was an awesome few days with lots of action. Look forward to more, much more:bg3:

You guys are killing me! The Salem raptor show is just insane. This looks great Gail. Beautiful soft feathers. Nice perch and set against a perfect background. I agree that the perch could be toned down a touch and I would clone out the white wash near the bird but it is fine either way. I came back to this a few times and keep thinking that there is a touch too much of a yellow cast on the bird. Now I know that it looked like you had perfect sun and that the warm light has loads of yellow in it. I honestly always struggle in these situations because you pray for that perfect light but then it over saturates the bird. I would try a version where you brought the yellows down 5-10 points on the bird and see what you think. If you have the bird and the perch on the same layer then reducing the yellows in the perch may also serve to reduce the highlights as well.

As all the others have said - a beautiful frame, Gail. I figured you must be out and about given no new posts or your usual - helpful/complimentary comments. Welcome back. Cant' wait to see the rest of your series.

I know this perch! well done, love the topside view and the BG. sharp with good details and the head turn is great. there are some slight bright spots and colors could be a bit warmer, it has a slight yellowish cast for a CA RTH.

Glad you all had fun and a productive trip.

TFS

Thank you all for your comments. Here is a repost with the perch brightness lowered, poo cloned out and decreased yellows on hawk by -12.
Difference is subtle when images viewed 13 panes away from each other but easy to see when placed side by side.

Big difference Gail. I see it immediately. Made a fantastic shot a perfect shot with those small changes.

The shot itself is just about faultless with the light, the pose and that great BG. The RP takes it where it needs to go - an excellent frame

Mike

Hi Gail, Im sure you are super chuffed to have captured this. What a great pose, and the light cant be any better. Excellent detail throughout, super sharp, and that BG beats any of my BG's from Pilanesberg. :w3 Big congrats here.

Seems like Dave's the one to contact in future.

Hi Gail, Brilliant capture. Beautiful light quality, fine detail, head turn, and outstanding BG. Nice touches in repost.

Geoffrey




https://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

Absolutely gorgeous, thank you for sharing this beauty Gail.