Sparrow hawk with freshly caught Sand martin. This happened about 20 foot in front of the hide and I managed to get a few shots. Several people have seen these and they seem to go for this one with the hawk looking down at the still struggling martin. I don't know - it will be interesting to see the reaction. As i said before I am not usually soppy but I did feel a bit odd for a while.
D200 Sigma 50-500
Some might see a slightly red tinge. Its the bright red sandstone bank all around does tend to give a bit of colour. Thats how it was.
Crop from horizontal
250th @f8 ISO500
Cheers
JohnR
Thanks for comments on last pic
Fantastic capture John. I would be more than happy to be able to photograph this. The eye to eye contact, showing power from the hawk is tremendous. It really takes this frame up a notch. Very natural looking aswell, the BG compliments the birds. One of your best captures yet. Well done
I think your repost improves a shot that was already extraordinary. The hawk's gaze at its prey makes the shot for me because it tells a more nuanced story of life and death. The realism of the surroundings is another plus. A tip of the hat to you again John!
Thanks very much Russ. Praise indeed. I was actually set up for the sand mrtins and it all happened pretty quickly. There were one or two binners but I ended up with about four keepers.
Cheers
John
Very nice behavioural shot in my opinion.
Interesting that Andreas mentioned about saturation, once you pulled that back, it kind of looks too faded. In any case, you were there, so you can reproduce the way you remember the scene.
It is a sad cycle of life, but that's how it is. :( I'd have been happy to witness it too.
Thaks
Its interesting about the colour saturation
Every one has their own views and so if its not way over top or under it should be up to the individual. No problem
Thanks again
John
Terrific slice of nature, nicely captured. As to the saturation, I have a slight preference for the repost, but I'll yield to the fellow who saw it. Well done.
Hi all and specially John , "my color issue" could come from a missing color profile within the image . If you embed the sRGB color profile we could see roughly the same colors , if you do not embed the profile we might see something really different .
Hi John, great capture and sighting, and I like the intense stare of the Sparrowhawk on his prey. With regards to the colours, maybe somewhere in between. Still, an image I would love to have in my files.
Thanks all
Andreas
Weve been down this road before Every single thing I do is sRGB- always has been as my set up can,t do anything else. Paint Shop Pro 7 can only save in that space. The camera is sRGB as is the PC profile/ the printer/ the PP software etc. The browsers default to sRGB anyway if a profile is not embedded.
Cheers
John
John, very nice capture. I think the re-post is a touch more balanced, with plenty of saturation, and it feels a tad lighter,if you get my drift.
I had the same experience happen to me a few weeks ago. I was out to a location in my neighborhood, looking for a red headed woodpecker, when a hawk came crashing out of the woods from behind me,and took down one of two doves. If the IQ was better I would have posted it. Seeing's it claws around the neck of the dove was a chilling reminder of life in the wild for these great creatures.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful glimpse into nature.
Life (and death) Goes On
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. If you embed the sRGB color profile we could see roughly the same colors , if you do not embed the profile we might see something really different .
