Female Northern Harrier

[David Salem]

Caught this harrier two winters ago at a local wildlife area. In this frame she has just past me, but looked back and gave me some nice eye contact. The BG is the reeds of the marsh and the water of the ponds.

1DMkIV---700mm---f5.6---ss1/3200---ISO800---HH@5:40pm---35% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

David

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely head turn in great warm light, sweet BG too

[Greg Oakley]

Awesome light and colours in this David - nice eye contact as well!

[Luis Patacao]

Nice BG with the touch of blue on the bottom gives a sense of location. The wing position and the eye contact are a must, just not so sure about the crop format, seems a bit squarish IMHO.

[David Salem]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Luis, the crop is a little less than a 2x3 but I wanted to keep enough on the bottom to show enough of the water. Thanks

[Richard Flack]

Beautiful image David. Love the light and detail on the wings. Great BG and as you mention nice eye contact. TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

Quite the light here...it is almost TOO intense if that makes any sense! I love the strip of water below, and yes, the look-back head angle saved the day.

[David Salem]

Daniel, I do know what you mean. The evening sun can be pretty strong out here but it usually has some some great color and gives us the ability to shoot at higher shutter speeds consistently.
Thanks for your comment

[Robert Kimbrell]

That a super background, Nice light and open wings, And so nice to get that head turn,

[Binu John]

Fabulous shot of the Harrier IF! Sweet light and gradient background! Love the head angle!

[Grant Yang]

I think including the water was critical to success of the shot. It balances out the warm light, and makes the image work. Great work!

[Andy Shepherd]

Lighting and Look make the shot for me. Excellent work, David.

[christopher galeski]

Nice image,light flight pose details BG magic,well done.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

That sweet southern cali light and the right bg. Nice pose and head turn. You clearly have these harriers on speed dial. Looking forward to more Dave.

[David Salem]

Thanks for taking the time to comment everyone.