Red-shouldered Hawk

[David Salem]

I posted the wings down take-off pose of this handsome male juvenile red shouldered hawk a few months ago. Here's the frame before. He has just finished eating a Coot, as can be seen by the large crop and the black feathers still stuck to his feet. Hope you like it.

1DX---840mm---f6.3---ss1/3200---ISO 1000---HH from truck @ 7:45am---40% crop---removed part of the perch

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

David

[sasan nejadi]

nice pos ,There is a little harsh shadows....TFS

[David Salem]

Thanks Sasan for the comment. I could have played with the shadow on the wing but it is so prominent that I left it alone. Not much you can do when they take off in the direction they do.
That much shadow is acceptable to me in this type of shot. It Almost adds some dimension to it. Thanks again

[Kirk Benson]

Wow this is awesome David... terrific light and shooting angle, amazing detail, beautifully rich color, love the wing position and perfect eye contact, and those "dirty" talons add great interest to the image/story. Oh... the BG and composition are wicked good too.
Excellent capture, masterfully processed, and a real pleasure to see.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the dynamic pose with full take off stretch, Dave and the BG, the shadow is too small to be distracting here, it doesn't catch my eye.

It looks like he had some prey in his talons before (?)

well done, wish this was in my files.

[David Salem]

Thanks Kirk and Arash for the nice comments. Glad you like it.

Arash, when I pulled up on him, he was just finishing up feeding on a coot on the ground. He then flew up to this perch for only a few seconds and then took off. You can see a few black feathers in the air also.

[keith mitchell]

David it's good to see the remains of his dinner on the feet and as you pointed out the few feathers in the air, great eye contact on this excellent image.

Keith.

[Shantanu Ambulgekar]

loved the sharpness in the eye of the Bird and nice BG making the image stand out.

[Lorant Voros]

Nice take off pose and great IQ. Shadow doesn't bother me at all. Great work.

[Joe Subolefsky]

Heck I like the shadow it add something to it for me.Very nice capture.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, take off shots always work when you get the timing right, and you certainly nailed that. Great launch pose with the raised wings, tack sharp, and all against a killer BG. Well captured.

[shane shacaluga]

Nice takeoff pose and eye contact. IQ is very good considering a 40% crop.

TFS

[Raybel Robles]

Superb image! lovely colors, sharpness, pose, BG. All positives from me! Like Arash I wish I had this image too!!

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'm glad you like it!

[Eric Dienesch]

A perfect staring picture for me from this bird.
Well Done !!

Greetings Eric

[Derek_Lauzon]

Fantastic shot david, I love the take off pose.

[Marina Scarr]

Talk about a dynamic take off pose, David. Just killer light, love the remnants of prey and that amazing stretch.

[Jonathan Ashton]

David you have a knack of pressing that shutter button at the right time! Whata great pose and what perfect DOF, the feet the bill and the right wing edge are all beautifully sharp. Great shot well done.

[Binu John]

Excellent take off shot, David! The timing couldn't be any better. Lovely pose, light and BG. TFS

[Behin Nazemroaya]

Hello David
you caught the exact moment. Details and light are perfect too. TFS
Regards

[David Salem]

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

[gail bisson]

Wow this is nice dave.
Love the pose, the IQ and the light. Agree with all the positive comments above. No nits from me!Love the falling bits of prey.
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image David! I like the take off position, IQ, details, perch and composition.