Northern Harrier

[Alex Becker]

Hi all,

Looks like northern harriers are back in some of our local parks so I went looking for them yesterday. Last year I spent many freezing mornings and afternoons trying to get a shot of one and never really had much luck -- was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This pic is still further away than I would like (and thus a bigger crop than I would like) but I should have many chances in the months to come.

Standard LR sliders, about 45% crop off the frame, sharpened. The light was pretty nice at this point so I think the colors are about accurate.

Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6 at 500mm
Specs: 1/2000 ISO 640 f/5.6

Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
Alex

[Bill Dix]

Congratulations on getting one, even if a bit far. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent trying to catch them. Keep trying and sooner or later you'll be in the right place and time. Colors and wing spread look good, and I like the sky.

[William Dickson]

I like the flight pose and HA on the bird. Very nice BG. But, I think there is too much of a crop, and the details on the bird are suffering because of this.

Will

[Joseph Przybyla]

Nice flight pose, complimentary sky adds to the image. I agree with Will that you are probably pushing the crop. Now that you have this one time spent will reward you with a closer Harrier to photograph. Thank you for sharing, Alex.

[Noel Heustis]

Congratulations on getting this shot. I would have been excited to get this shot. Even though you may have been a bit far away from the subject, I like a lot of the elements captured: 1) the Sun seems to have been low and behind you 2) the Harrier is looking at you 3) the Harrier seems to be flying relatively low in the sky (closer to your eye level) 4) the BG is very pleasing and 5) I even like the slight blur at the bottom of the wings showing implying movement.

I would try to follow this bird around a bit to figure out what he is hunting and where he is eating it. If there is a regular routine to the feeding pattern, you may be able to get closer. I'm looking forward to see what you find.

[gail bisson]

My favorite part of this image is that beautiful sky. Great light as well.
Since the IQ on the bird is suffering slightly because of the large crop and you have a great BG sky, I would try playing with a looser crop and go for a "small in the frame" theme.
I think it would look very nice,
Gail

[Alex Becker]

Thanks all for taking the time to comment and critique -- its very much appreciated. I had a feeling that I was pushing that crop so great to get feedback on that end. Here's a version with a reduced crop -- I could go looser yet but then would have to move the bird or add some canvas to avoid being overly centered. Hopefully I'll get out after these guys again tomorrow as well. Thanks again all,

[gail bisson]

I think the repost is excellent.Well done!