Theme: Redtail on Red

[Paul Lagasi]

The sky was from Roswell, New Mexico and the Red-tailed Hawk from Florida. The sky was from a disappointing search for the Common Crane and the Red-tail helped me find a good bird. As the hawk flew by a Spot-breasted Oriole flew up in a tree an voiced his disapproval...giving me a great view. I thought the combination worked for the theme.

I used a paintbrush to color the Redtail, to match the background.

I have posted images from my 12 day adventure on my blog listed below....

Ciao for now

[Diane Miller]

Fun image! I love the creativity you bring to bird shots!

It was fun to read your blog -- what an amazing quest! Hope you catch up on sleep eventually.

Some of the birds you mentioned needing better pictures of are common in my area, Santa Rosa, CA. If you're back out here and I can be of any help, let me know. I'm in kindergarten as a birder but I'm learning a few of the common ones out here. Western scrub jays come to our feeder every time I walk out on the deck.

[Kerry Perkins]

Very nice Paul! The hawk works well with the vivid reds and yellows of the sunset. Very dramatic.

[Anita Bower]

Paul: I'm coming back to this image hoping I can make some constructive comments. I like the sunset, I like the bird, but the combination isn't quite working for me. The sunset dominates the image, but I think the bird is your subject. Maybe tone down the sunset and brighten the bird? Not sure. I do like the glow on the edge of the wing and the tail.

[Judy Howle]

The sunset is gorgeous, but I agree with Anita, not sure I can put my finger on it but I do think brightening the bird and adding more contrast might help as it is a bit dull compared to the sky. Otherwise, it's a terrific image.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

The sky and the bird are magnificent. I think brightening the bird would be a good idea, but not too much to lose the drama of the scene, and the beautiful backlighting. Brought it into PS and lightened around the bird. Better?

[Paul Lagasi]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions, I have always tried to make my compositions as realistic as possible and in the photo above if one were to be lucky enough to see a redtail flying in a sunset, there is no way for it to be in the forground and lighter, if anything it would be very dark. I painted all the white feathers on this bird with the sky color on purpose because thats how it would look in real life....

When I get home from vacation I will revisit this image ....... 85 degrees, sunny, hot, golf, food, wine, what else could one want? .... ok I wish I had my Nikon, just my Iphone (not my decision).

Internet time limited, check in again when I get home