Image capture in Trinidad 3 weeks ago. There were several pastures at this location, a few of which had small herds of Cape Buffalo. The reason I mention this is because as we approached the pasture where there were several Savannah Hawks perched and flying around, we noticed at lest two buffalo where out of the pasture on the road, and giving us serious stares. We kept one eye on the buffalo, the other on the hawks. As I tracked the hawk it proceeded to join and follow a female ultimately mating on a distant fence post. C&C welcome.
D4S, Nikon 500mm + 1.4 TC, 1/2500s, f 7.1, ISO 5000, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley Gimbal head.
Nice job of capturing this right after liftoff from the post. You got a good shot of the left wing, back and head. However, the image is too flat and could use a curves layer to boost contrast. Looks like you were working in fairly low light, but you could perhaps have traded a wider aperture for a little lower ISO. This may already be a pretty large crop, but if IQ will hold up I'd crop most of the post of and/or try a horizontal crop again with most of the post gone.
The take off was well timed, and I kinda like the vertical composition. The far wing looks great, near one not so much, and the bill tip / feather merge is unfortunate. I love the trailing feet. The various oof vertical stakes are a bit distracting - making me wish they were not there. Perhaps also a bit more NR to the BG? Cool subject though, and a fun trip from the sounds of it.
Savannah Hawk
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