Northern Harrier

[Dave Leroy]

This photo was taken about a month ago at Boundary Bay. The outline of the north shore mountains are visible in bottom left. 50D, 500mm f/4 at f/5.6, 1/750, ISO400. Cropped from left and bottom. Dave

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

That intense raptor stare, well exposed, like the diagonal.

From a comp standpoint, for my personal taste, too much negative space above which doesn't add a lot to the comp in my opinion. I might crop down about 40% of the free space.

It might be interesting to see the original shot, as I find myself wanting a bit more of the mountains below. It would be OK to add the original as a repost, just to see what you were working with.

Thanks

Randy

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice eye contact and flight pose, well done. The mountain outline is a plus and makes the photo more interesting, I agree with Randy about less space on the top and more space on the bottom. Well done

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

I think the bird higher in the frame will accentuate the impression of him soaring.

Rnady

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the intense eye contact you have here! I agree with removing some space from the top of the image.

[Dave Leroy]

No problem Randy I can do that. But do I just convert the raw file and down size and then post? Dave

[Dave Leroy]

Here is the ff shot. As you can see the hawk was centred in frame. I have not applied any pp'n other than my typical 350/.2/0 USM. Dave

[Rod Warnock]

Like the re-post, Dave !! The angle of the bird and that stare well caught.
Best regards
Rod Warnock

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

I like the background better in your second post, the original file. I have included my take on a possible crop. I really wanted some of the trees in there, it really helps anchor the image, gives a sense of depth.

I cropped out a bit more of the tree than I would like, to help move the bird off dead center. I actually was ok with it being almost centered, with more tree showing, but try this one on for size.

Lots of options here. If you really want to work it, you could move the bird to the left, re contour the ridge line, etc., but I think this is an improvement.
I also toned down a few hot spots in the bird.

Thanks for letting me tweak it a bit!

Randy

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Dave, I like this image for the positive mentioned above. I think I prefer Randy's composition as I agree that the mountains and bit of trees add more than the empty sky and helps provide a better sense of habitat. Thanks for sharing.

[Harshad Barve]

you gota love that stare , I liked Randy's repost most
TFS

[Dave Leroy]

Thnaks everyone for the comments and suggestions.
And Randy thanks for the repost and comments. As soon as I posted the ff, I thought of your suggestion the other day about moving the bird. It would be a much better photo sliding the bird to the left and fitting in with the mountain contours and leaving all of the trees bushes with perhaps a bit off the top. I will have a go at it later. Tks, Dave

[Dave Leroy]

Here is the moved version. I moved the bird to the left side of frame and cropped a bit from top and right. Perhaps the bird could have been a bit higher. I also picked up a bit of red cast from the other posts.
Thanks again Randy for the help. Dave

[Kiran Poonacha]

The repost work well, nice eye contact and details here, congrats..

[Randy Stout]

Dave:

Its getting better and better. I agree, just slightly higher in the frame for the bird, so the diagonal of the wings picks up the diagonal of the ridge line. Not much, but I think it would be even stronger.

It may just be me, but the color now seems a bit green?

Randy

[Dave Leroy]

I think you are right Randy about the green cast. I quess I had been looking at the photo for too long. A tad higher would complete the diagonal nicely. Dave