This was taken at the raptor free-flight demonstration at the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, back in 2015. The birds are free-flying, but captive by virtue of their training and desire for the next meal. It is a great place to see some beautiful raptors up close (and also a wonderful habitat for some non-captive passerines). But a few tips for anyone thinking of going: First, don't go on a weekend as I did. I found it so crowded that it was difficult to find a place to stand on the walkways of the flight area, especially with a large lens and tripod; and Second, take a zoom tele. You don't know where the birds will land - close to you or far away. This is full-frame and I was lucky to get the whole bird in the image. I just wish I had tilted the lens a fraction lower.
D7000, 50f4, ISO 2000, 1/2000s @ f/7.1 manual. Gitzo and Mongoose.
10-23-2018, 04:31 PM
John Mack
Sounds like a neat place to check out. The pose is nice on the hawk. Really like how you can see the tongue.
10-23-2018, 08:00 PM
Alex Becker
Nice look at this hawk. I like the pose details and BG. I think I would warm up the image slightly. I also wish for more room below but understand the limitations between crowd and prime lens. TFS
10-24-2018, 05:53 AM
Daniel Cadieux
What a great looking hawk! I love te eye, open bill, great view of the talons. Awesome perch that I agree I wish we'd see more of below. Personally I'd lighten the middle BG branch to match the other twos' tonality.
10-24-2018, 02:31 PM
gail bisson
A beautiful look at this gorgeous hawk. I would love to see one in real life!
I would clone two of the branches in a New York minute! The middle one really pulls the eye away.
Agree with you re: more room below.
Gail
10-24-2018, 04:32 PM
Bill Dix
1 Attachment(s)
Thank you all. Maybe two New York minutes for the repost. Cloned out two branches and added 10% warming filter. Wish I could add a bit below.
10-25-2018, 08:58 AM
gail bisson
Repost looks good!
Gail
11-07-2018, 06:47 AM
Arthur Morris
1 Attachment(s)
Just playing with the repost: Content Aware Fill, Patch Tool, and Clone Stamp Tool for the perch rebuild ... More importantly ran a Contrast Mask on the face and then pulled up the curve a bit ...
