Hawk Owl Taking Off

[Paul Kammen]

A northern hawk owl taking off. 1/2000 sec at f5.6, ISO 200, Canon 800mm lens, 70d body. I think sometimes I get obsessed with sharpness, and as a bird is taking off in al servo mode it will be hit and miss. Any comments appreciated...thanks.

[arash_hazeghi]

Take off was nice but the bird is OOF. Focus locked on the pine needles behind him.

It is more difficult for the camera to focus on the bird while it is so close to foliage, especially with a consumer body which is not really capable of handling action.

BTW, I would clone out the white mouse (bait?) because its color and long tail does not go with this kind of environment/bird.

[Marina Scarr]

Very accurate critique by Arash. I do think with some more sharpening on the face, you would seen an improvement but focal point is definitely on the pine needles.