Red Tail Hawk

[Rick Dobson]

Image taken last night from my car window. Spotted this guy sitting on this post while driving home. My gear was in the trunk so I pulled over got my camera and drove back. Took this picture from the other side of the road while cars and trucks were driving between me and the hawk. CC welcomed of course.
Canon 50D, 1.400 sec, ISO 400, 500mm + 1.4X

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Details and eye contact are great. There is a bright horizontal line at the bottom, a car driving by? I would try to remove the magenta cast.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Rick, Beautiful image! I took the liberty of taking out the caste.

[George Scott]

Hi Rick, great image - I love the eye contact. Great details and a sweet soft background
Thanks for sharing
George

[Kim Rollins]

Rick -
Classic pose. They set on the post and poles here too.

Good image of the RT and bg good too.

Here is my version of a rework -

[Grady Weed]

Personally, I do not like either of the re-posts. Dave's is too green and Kim's is to dull brown. Your original is closer to the colors you saw. But it still would need a re-work on the color. Other than that, it is very nice. Good eye contact. Lovely backside details. The soft and calm expression is a classic for the bird. A very contented look to this guy. Sharp too.

[Stu Bowie]

Not knowing the species, I cant comment on the colours - but its a great comp, with lovely light, and nice and sharp. The perch is not the best, but hey, we cant choose where they want to rest. Still, well captured Rick.

[Art Kornienko]

I don't mind the perch, but agree with the horizontol line at bottom and would prefer a bit more contrast. Lovely pose.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I wasn't there to see the actual colours, but my preference here is Kim's version. Nice find Rick, and very sharp. Now you just need to eliminate that light band at bottom :-)

[Kim Rollins]

I wasn't there to see the actual colours, but my preference here is Kim's version. Nice find Rick, and very sharp. Now you just need to eliminate that light band at bottom :-)

It was just a guess for me but I know the RT well and they come in many flavors. Even in this area where there are many they come from light to dark morphs. I suspect I came close to the real color of this bird and the cere certainly came into correct color with the adjustments I used.