Redtail Hawk with a snake

[chris mayne]

This Redtail is a great hunter of snakes and lizards. I have gotten to watch them fledge eleven young over the last 4 years. The male seems to concentrate more on rabbits and squirrels and this spring he brought in a full grown Roadrunner. It was a nice day with some good light. Comments and critiques are surely appreciated.


1DMKIII
500 4/L
1/1250 f/8
exp comp +2/3
ISO 400

[Brian Barcelos]

This is a lovely capture and that snake puts it over the top. Exposure was handled excellently and great sharpness. I might give him some more room up front to fly into.

Brian

[Duane Noblick]

I like the composition as is. The snake is a bonus along with the open beak. Nice and sharp as well.

[Raul Quinones]

Great picture, like the composition and the snakes is a great addition. I also like the calling pose.
Lower "jaw" not as sharp as the rest of the bird, maybe motion blurr. Maybe a contrast boost.

[chris mayne]

Thank you guys. Never noticed the bottom beak, but you are correct there, Raul. I'll contrast that on the original. I had this image a bit larger all around, but shortened to fit the format. It could use just a bit out front.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose and full wing span showing the nature of this raptor, rattle snake is a plus!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like this one alot. I just wish the hawk wasn't squeezed so much into the corner. I'd also investigate selectively sharpening the snake's head to see if that works nicely.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Sharp eye, nice wing spread, open beak is a plus, however the snake make this image over the top. Good captured, congratulation. Agree about the blur at the beak but it's alright with me.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Chris, Any relation to Kenny? First off, this is a spectacular capture. I would love to see a version with more room all around. (Sorry RK.) You have done a great job with the EXP and a pretty good job with evening out the tonality. (Having parts of the bird and the prey item in the sun and parts in the shade is always a difficult situation.)

First, I would try to use Select Color Range to select the sunlit parts of the breast, the one foot, and the snake that are sunlit. Then use Refine Edge and hit Control J to put the selected areas on a layer. Now select Linear Burn as the blending mode and reduce the Opacity to taste. I have a few more suggestions but they are calling my flight. I will try to get back soon.

[Erich Stevens]

Chris,

This is a great capture. I think the focus is in the right place, but an even higher shutter speed could've helped with sharpness as there appears to be the slightest motion blur in the beak and trailing edge of wings and tail.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautiful image this, loved the pose, the details and the screaming adds a lot to this, for sure the snake creates interest to the frame.. congrats..

[Arthur Morris]

In addition the eye and the area around the eye could be worked to reduce the harsh shadows and even out the EXP.

[chris mayne]

Thank you all for your input and help on this image. Artie, hope I followed your instructions correctly here, first time on that process, so I'm not to sure. I think it looks better, though. Cleaned up around lower beak and added canvas all around. The canvas is there on the raw image, but just reworked the jpeg. My nephew was a catcher in the big leagues for 14 years, caught for the Mets for a couple of years and knows Kenny Mayne well but alas, he isn't a relative. He is a really funny guy.

[Arthur Morris]

Wow. I am glad that I came back. The repost is a big improvement, esp. around the face and eye. Now all it needs is a small crop from the bottom.