This is an image I took about a year ago when I found this hawk smack dab in the middle of the woods polishing off a newly killed chipmunk. I never knew they hunted in the middle of the woods like this one must have. After downing the last of the chipmunk the bird jumped up on this stump to clean up and allowed me to approach kind of close. I wish I would have noticed the leaf in the foreground in front of the stump while shooting but I was just happy to find an angle where the filtered light was pretty good and I missed the leaf. Thanks for looking and I hope you like.
Matt
40D, 300mm + 1.4x converter, 1/60th, f 6.3, ISO 400, w/flash.
The points I would like to make all center around the light. It is hard to make an image work in dappled light, because the dynamic range of the camera just can't match the effect we see with our eyes. If it is an option, try to get some of the light on the head/eye area of the subject at least. (I know, not always possible)
In this case, I think you can bring up the darker areas on the body/head some without inducing too much noise. The front leg needs to be toned down. I would eliminate the second catchlight.
The other main light issue has to do with the bright specular reflections in the background. Esp. with the bird being a bit darker, they really jump out, as does the bright spot near your sig. line.
The leaf OOF in the foreground should be able be toned down even further, and is less of an issue than the overall lighting of the scene.
Good work to capture this guy. Shooting in the dappled light of a forest is always a challenge.
Did you use a better beamer by the way, which might have allowed you to even out the light a bit more.
I had a minute to try a few of the things I mentioned. Somewhat limited by the file size, but I think most of the ideas come across. You can do a much better job on the raw file.
1)Evened out the illumination on the bird with burn and dodge tools
2)Burned in some of the specular highlights in background
3)Removed the second catchlight
4)Sharpened eye and head selectively
If you want to take the time, you can clone in some texture to the stump in the area covered by the OOF leaves, and make it look better.
Everything has been said already!
Excellent image, great species and good overall result in such conditions.
I would suggesto to brighten the dark areas in the BG. You could tone down the OOF leaf on the FG and with a layer mask you could desaturate it so it would blend better with the perch. If you need any help, let me know :)
Big congratulations!!
This is a juvenile RTH (note yellow eyes) and they are less skittish around here than the adults are, so get 'em while you can. I like the pose and the green BG. You handled the flash well.
RTH in the woods
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