Female Northern Harrier banking

[arash_hazeghi]

I was lucky enough to get a close flyby of the gorgeous female. I was able to pull lots of detail.



If you like to see more details of this magnificent raptor here is a larger version.
EXIF is 7D + 400 f/4 DO @ f/5.6 1/1600sec ISO 400 sw : DPP 3.7.2 Digital processing: crop and level adjustment.

Hope you like it.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh yes I like this one alot! Great pose. Although the bird has past you it gave an image saving look-back glance. Awesome deatails, and the BG looks great. You even pulled off some deatil on the white rump. I even like the strand (web?) clinging to the far wing. Super!

[arash_hazeghi]

Oh yes I like this one alot! Great pose. Although the bird has past you it gave an image saving look-back glance. Awesome deatails, and the BG looks great. You even pulled off some deatil on the white rump. I even like the strand (web?) clinging to the far wing. Super!

Thanks Daniel, yup I was lucky the head is parallel to sensor :) I often see the strands hanging from the tail/feet, they are actually thin grass strands they pick when hunting.

[Clement Francis]

Arash a very lovely flight shot with loads of details and great eye contact

[Raymond Barlow]

Arash.. superb image, as good as it gets!! the head turn really sets this image apart from anything I have seen., well done.

[Harshad Barve]

ArashBhai , this is fantastic effort , Lovely eye contact and tons of details ,
Loved every pixel of this image
TFS

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the look-back pose, angle and BG. Did you blur the BG a lot?

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic! Great light, detail, shooting angle and BG.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the look-back pose, angle and BG. Did you blur the BG a lot?

Hi Axel, I have not touched the BG. Just cropped and did level adjustment + smart sharpen on the bird. As I mentioned before I will disclose any digital manipulation. The harrier was very close compared to BG, I could hear her flap as she flew by!

Thanks

[Kiran Poonacha]

wow bhai, total killer one this, great sharpness, loved the back view and good eye contact.. big congrats..

[Stu Bowie]

Arash, you certainly nailed this one. IMHO, your best to date. Brilliant IQ, just love the quality of light, detail, and not to mention the eye contact. Congrats, and go to the front of the class.

[Fabs Forns]

Gorgeous light and BG. The head turn makes this special.

[Danny Laredo]

Love the head turn and pose you captured here.

[Jim Crosswell]

A great flight capture! The look back really adds to this image.

[Declan Troy]

This is stunning. There seems to be some funky dark smudges near the cere that look artificial and perhaps some sharpening (?) artifacts in the face. Minor distractions though as the total "picture" is quite remarkable.

[Brian Barcelos]

I'm guessing the 7D is finally doing right by you? Simply stunning image Arash. BG really adds to this gorgeous bird. Couldn't ask for much more man. Congrats

[Rohan Kamath]

fantastic details with a gr8 look back pose...

-Cheers,
Rohan
__________________________________________________
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[david cramer]

Great pose, nice bg with wonderful light. It's the detail in this bird that I'm loving the most.

[Danny J Brown]

A bit late here Arash but I wanted to tell you that this is one of your best images yet.

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks everyone for nice comments :) Brian, it works well when bird is close enough so the AF points don't see the BG.

[Simon Bennett]

Fabulous image and so sharp.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Stunning image! Exposure is spot-on. Well done!

[Marina Scarr]

I am looking at my vote (if I had one) for POTW. The details are absolutely outstanding, and love the way she has turned her head.

[Michael Zajac]

Beautiful details and flight shot. I agree w/ Delcan regarding small smudge area around head I might remove if it were mine. I love the stare.Great shot! Congratulations.

[arash_hazeghi]

This is stunning. There seems to be some funky dark smudges near the cere that look artificial and perhaps some sharpening (?) artifacts in the face. Minor distractions though as the total "picture" is quite remarkable.

Thanks Declan those are the hair strands near the beak (see larger) not a smudge.

[Declan Troy]

Indeed they are, still looks a bit funky as they seem crisp in against the bird but fuzzy against the background. So unless there is something you did in processing that created the effect I'd leave it just as it is. Quite the testament to the detail you are getting when you can resolve rictal bristles of BIF!

[Morkel Erasmus]

one of the best harrier images I've seen, "Hawkman" :)
lovely details, sweet HA and all-in-all great shot.

[Bonnie Block]

Wow, this is spectacular for this species, Arash! Great eye catching image. Very sharp and very close!

[James Salywoda]

WOW! This is fantastic Arash....