Redtailed Hawk

[Mike Lentz]

Going back in the archives, taken last March, this guy just started his turn back towards me.



Nikon D300 ~ Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 with 1.4x TX ~ handheld
ISO 500 ~ F/5.6 ~ 1/5000 sec ~ - 1/3 EV

[John Blumenkamp]

Great capture Mike... the lit-up face is fantastic, as well as that tail and all it's color. Nice background too... is that snow?

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent BG, HA is very good and I like the flight pose. Just wish the right wing was in full down position. TFS

[Harshad Barve]

fabulous image with everything spot on
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

like this one Mike - great colours, exposure and BG.
agree with Arash - if the right wing was down it would have been on another level

[Stu Bowie]

Mike, this just pops so well from the BG. I like the angle of flight, and the detail on the far wing. Well captured.

[Jim Fenton]

Nice subject / background separation, but there are two things that detract for me here.

1) Near wing position as mentioned by others.

2) Eye / looking away / down or wherever it is they are looking.

Since the far wing is fully extended and the tail is fanned and you are seemingly looking down at both of those aspects, it may have worked if the near wing were fully extended. I'm not positive however as a 5.6 aperture wouldn't have given tip to tip sharpness.