Harris' Hawk

[Diane Miller]

Canon 7D2, 100-400 II at 400, ISO 1600, f/8, 1/1600. South Texas -- way south. Attracted with chicken (from a store). 53% of the full frame. Wish the light had been better -- it was very cloudy. Even with a good exposure, detail in dark and midtone areas is lost in grain at 1600.

[Richard Flack]

Stunning background Diane, and awesome subject. I would have loved it more if the hawk was more side on.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

I like the hunched pose, looks very intense, ready to pounce. The classic situation where you are juggling settings to give the best combination of dof,iso,shutter speed,sharpness.

I suspect you didn't have time to do so, but I might have tried trading a bit of dof for a lower ISO setting, or if stationary for a few seconds, even lowering shutter speed for lower ISO.

I don't find the noise objectionable at this size.

Cheers

Randy

[Ritesh Nangare]

Awesome frame , the BG is fantastic the colors are perfect....

all and all great image to me.....

[Bill Dix]

Very nice pose, perch and background (and of course a beautiful hawk). You handled the noise well; no problem to my eye. And the look-back is just enough to make for a good HA, at least for me.

[annmpacheco]

Very nice image despite the loss of detail in some areas. However, the pose is inviting and the larger feathers look good. BG is swell!

[Diane Miller]

Thanks guys! Wish I had had time to juggle ISO and SS, but this was fast and furious, with competition from some turkey vultures, a black vulture and about a dozen Caracaras. A little like trying to shoot a hockey match.

[Kirk Benson]

All things considered, I think you did a very fine job on this image Diane. BG is awesome, and both color and detail look good on this beautiful Harris' Hawk.
It's definitely a keeper, and I'm so glad you posted it. We are our own toughest critics.