I've been busy and haven't posted (or even had time to look) in a while, but time to get back into it. I just got the 400 DO II and on its first real outing I got lucky with this hawk. After some hand-holding with the 1.4X I had put on the 2X to see how it would work with some ducks, and as I was deciding to head back I saw him in a scraggly bush and made a few shots. Then he moved to a T-post and I dared move a little closer and got some frame-filling full-body shots. Then he flew to a small ditch maybe 25 ft away right in front of me, eyeing some potential prey that apparently escaped. This is almost full-frame, with just a little off the top and right. I had the 7D2 so was limited to the center focus point, which compromised my composition a little.
Canon 7D2, 400 DO II + 2X III, ISO 800, 1/800, f/10. Big Gitzo with Wimberley II. Cloudy, low light. Minimal LR adjustments, into PS for cloning out a thin piece of dead plant in front of his lower breast and a little touchup to the BG. No NR or sharpening except the LR defaults. The light had been varying for hours, with clouds, so I had gone to Av. I was too focused to notice that a really dark cloud had come over, so I might have been taking a risk with the SS. I was more "focused" on the focus point.
Last edited by Diane Miller; 01-17-2016 at 02:03 PM.
Hi Diane, love the intense stare, and I quite like your comp here. Overall, well exposed, and I like the detail around the eye and beak. Nicely separated from the BG too.
Fixed your title ( you had typed Fawk, instead of Hawk )
Red-Tailed Hawk Juvenile
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