Red-tailed Hawk

[Terry Olmsted]

Taken 1-13-2008. This is a typical perch for these wonderful birds of prey. I purposely left the high-voltage insulator and cross bar to show the setting. The particular bird is either a juvenile or the light phase of the red-tail.
Canon XTi 400mm 5.6L USM 1/800s f5.6 ISO 200 exp comp +1 2/3

[Lana Hays]

Terry
This one does tell a story of where I often find the Red-tailed hawks. The wing spread shows a nice underside of the hawk. I know you have to photograph where they are but in this one, the apparatus tends to distract me from the bird by being behind the bird. It might have worked better if it was to the right of the bird......did you get a series of images with the bird separated from the insulator?

[Terry Olmsted]

Thanks, Lana. Unfortunately I did not get another image. In-flight work is certainly difficult.
Terry

[Gail Yovanovich]

A nice image, Terry, and I too would like to see bird's head in the clear from the wooden insulator support. But, hey, BIF - and raptors in general - are difficult enough to catch, and if only we could tell them how to pose!

By the way, this is an immature light-morph Western Red-tailed, and you captured an excellent ID shot.

Cheers.....Gail.

[Terry Olmsted]

Thanks, Gail - I couldn't agree more - if we could just get them to pose like we want them too.
Terry

[Alfred Forns]

Bird sure looks great Terry !!!! Agree with Lana on the apparatus Hope you can get him in a different and complementing relation I think when you do the images take on a high appeal !!!!

[Terry Olmsted]

Thanks very much Al. Try, try, and try again - maybe next time :).
Terry

[Jim Neiger]

Hi Terry,

I really like the pose with the wingspread and look at you. I also find the thing in the bg distracting. Sometimes you can get birds to perch where you want them to. Here are a couple of ways to do it:
1. Spend time in the area where the bird(s) you want to photograph live and observe their behavior. Look for patterns like favorite perches and frequent flight paths. Then try to develop a vision based on what you observe. The vision may include whatever behavior or perch, etc. that you've observed that you want to photograph. Then develop a plan for getting an image similar to your vision. The plan should include where to position yourself, when (light and time of day) to be there, what equipment and settings you will need, etc. Then execute the plan. It can take lots of time, patience, and effort, but it's often worth it.

2. In addition to #1, set up some attractive perches in the area where the birds are, if possible, if the bird likes the perch it may use it.

[Terry Olmsted]

Thanks very much for the suggestions and pointers, Jim. I appreciate them!
Terry