Although normally Red-tailed Hawk are very wary, sometimes the juveniles are less so when they first appear on winter territories. I moved my car very close to this subject which was intent upon something in the grass. I quickly changed exposure to +1 and got this shot as he dove.
This is almost full frame in width (90%) and trimmed top and bottom for composition. I used a Canon 40D with the 500mm, 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3.
The biggest problem I have with this image is the fact that the head is in line with the back wing and not as open to view as I would like. I dodged the bill and burnt the wing behind, in an effort to increase the contrast there. I would welcome processing suggestions to help with this problem as well as any other comments.
Personally I find this image could go brighter still...in a case like this I wouldn't be afraid of making it high-key. I agree with you about the head being lost in the wing, I really wish the bill-tip would be (more) visible. I bit of work on the eye would be nice...make the pupil darker and the iris more vibrant (but not too much as to make it look retouched). I really like the swooping primaries of the near wing - really cool!
Here's a go at it. I selected the bird. Boosted both brightness and contrast. Worked on the eye. Darkened the BG. From a technical standpoint, I would have added another 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop of EC to the image. Not enough pixel detail to work on the beak.
I am very happy with Doug's repost. I had already tried lightening the subject but I didn't like the result. However, it is much improved when the sky is also darkened, as it gives a necessary contrast that doesn't leave the whole thing looking washed out.
Diving Red-tail
Reply With Quote
