Rough-legged Hawk Takes Flight

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 01:17 PM

I was a little surprised when this Rough-legged Hawk took flight and headed straight towards me. This image was captured back in November along Kootenay River Road near Creston, B.C.

Model: Canon EOS REBEL T1i & Sigma 50-500mm
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 second
Aperture: F/8 -0.67
Focal Length: 500 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Thanks for taking a look and your feedback is appreciated,

Brent

**Rod Warnock** · 12-09-2009, 02:10 PM

What a great image !! Brent !! Great for me to be first off to make comment on it so here goes. The freshness of the capture grabs me. The sheer energy of the bird contrasted with the Monet-like subtleness of the background coupled with the quirky slightly off centre positioning of the bird makes this image!! Well done!!
I tote that 29 have passed this way with no comment this a symptom of the virus-like habits of Forums around the world no better here than elsewhere. I feel the following clip should be compulsory viewing for all lurkers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk
for me this has all the elements that should run through a viewers mind when viewing any work of art.

Others will be more able to give tips for bringing out more details of the lighter areas of this image etc.
Best regards
Rod Warnock

david cramer · 12-09-2009, 02:19 PM

Perhaps he thought you could be lunch? Either way, great fortune that he flew your way, and that you were prepared. Beautiful capture with great dof and sharpness on the bird. Dark shaded area under the bird is distracting, but an easy fix if you are so inclined.

**Luis Villablanca** · 12-09-2009, 02:59 PM

Congratulations, this is an impressive view. A bird coming head to you is always a challenge to photograph and you did it very well. Great sharpness, DOF, and motion blur on the wings.

**denise ippolito** · 12-09-2009, 03:34 PM

Beautiful! I love the angle. I might lighten the one eye and remove the dark spot at bottom.That said, I love this!!

**Mike Veltri** · 12-09-2009, 04:11 PM

A great moment, I agree with lightening the eye.

Judy Lynn Malloch · 12-09-2009, 06:17 PM

Love what Rod had to say. It is beautiful and quite unique. I really love this !!!!!! Congratulations Brent.

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 07:08 PM

Thanks very much for the nice comments & the helpful feedback. I was just out and this hawk is still around the same area. He has been a real joy to photograph, but no matter how hard I try I'll probably never get another one of him like this!

**Arthur Morris** · 12-09-2009, 07:13 PM

Sharp and incoming and a great bird are the plusses. Sorry to spoil the party Rod and boys and girls. There are substantial clipped highlights. The dark shadow center-left (from the tree on our left) is distracting. It screams for a crop from the bottom; the o-o-f dirt adds nothing to the image but empty space.

Brent: how did you convert the image?

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 07:58 PM

Artie...thanks for your feedback..I'm doing the conversion in Adobe Camera RAW. I originally had a tighter crop, but some feedback on some other posts indicated leaving more room around the birds...

I'm still learning the ropes when it comes to editing...

**Arthur Morris** · 12-09-2009, 08:20 PM

Hi Brent, YAW. Here is what you need to know:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=39984

In addition there are two great new threads that are similar here:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...419#post399419

and here:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...618#post399618

The first two should be particularly helpful. Once you reconvert after following the latest instructions in the ER tutorial we can work on evening out the EXP.

Digital Basics will get you on the right path quickly.

Let me know if you need any help at all.

BTW, editing to me is when you pick the keepers. I like to call the fixing up process image optimization.

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 08:51 PM

Hi Artie,

Thanks very much. This is the help I needed to take my work to the next level. I'll work through this and let you know how it goes. Very much appreciated...

Thanks,

Brent

**Arthur Morris** · 12-09-2009, 08:55 PM

You are most welcome. Thanks for having an open mind (after the glowing comments)

**Ray Rozema** · 12-09-2009, 09:03 PM

I have a question regarding the repost: I agree cropping off the bottom but I wonder shouldn't there be more room on the sides for the wings to move into? TFS Ray

**Arthur Morris** · 12-09-2009, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by Ray Rozema

I have a question regarding the repost: I agree cropping off the bottom but I wonder shouldn't there be more room on the sides for the wings to move into? TFS Ray

Thanks Ray. I missed the repost. I am with you. My only cropping suggestion was to crop from the bottom not from the sides. The bird looks stuffed into the frame in the repost.

All might wish to check out "Advanced Composition and Image Design" in ABP II. :)

**Arthur Morris** · 12-09-2009, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by Brent Wellander

Artie...thanks for your feedback..I'm doing the conversion in Adobe Camera RAW. I originally had a tighter crop, but some feedback on some other posts indicated leaving more room around the birds...

I'm still learning the ropes when it comes to editing...

Brent, I does not look as if you reconverted this darker... And as above, the only crop should have been from the bottom IMHO. :)

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 09:21 PM

Thanks...I do have your ABP I & II. Now that winter is here & I'm not out in the field as much, I can take some time to study them..."Advanced Composition and Image Design" in particular :)

**Brent Wellander** · 12-09-2009, 10:53 PM

Hi Artie,

I followed your ACR conversion strategy. What I wasn't clear about was at step 6....when you adjust the exposure slider...the red highlight warning displays again...do you then go back and readjust the recovery slider? Same with the blacks in step 7. Or do you just go ahead and adjust the exposure slider and don't worry about the warnings at this point?

Here is the image adjusted up to step 6, cropped and shadow in bottom left cloned out as best I could.

Thanks again,

Brent

**arash_hazeghi** · 12-09-2009, 10:57 PM

The last post is an improvement sharpness is good but whites still look a bit hot on my screen. Excellent in coming pose, great!

**Rod Warnock** · 12-10-2009, 12:20 AM

Arthur Morris said: Sharp and incoming and a great bird are the plusses. Sorry to spoil the party Rod and boys and girls. There are substantial clipped highlights. The dark shadow center-left (from the tree on our left) is distracting. It screams for a crop from the bottom; the o-o-f dirt adds nothing to the image but empty space.

Thanks for that great input Arthur (especially for myself a newbie to PP) however I disagree entirely with respect to your composition comments a cropped version loses the space.
I did as you will notice add originally:
"Others will be more able to give tips for bringing out more details of the lighter areas of this image etc "
The flow on that you gave is superb and generous.
Best regards and thanks
Rod Warnock

Nate Chappell · 12-10-2009, 09:04 PM

The repost is awesome, even if there are still a few blown highlights. congrats Brett!

**Arthur Morris** · 12-10-2009, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by Brent Wellander

Hi Artie, I followed your ACR conversion strategy. What I wasn't clear about was at step 6....when you adjust the exposure slider...the red highlight warning displays again...do you then go back and readjust the recovery slider? Same with the blacks in step 7. Or do you just go ahead and adjust the exposure slider and don't worry about the warnings at this point? Here is the image adjusted up to step 6, cropped and shadow in bottom left cloned out as best I could. Thanks again,Brent

Please send me a link to the post and the Pane #. If you have moved the Recovery Slider to the right you do not touch the Exposure Slider.

You gotta go back and start again and do it right. I am 90% sure that all the highlights can be recovered.

Did you read my thoughts about cropping from the sides?

**Arthur Morris** · 12-10-2009, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by Rod Warnock

Thanks for that great input Arthur (especially for myself a newbie to PP) however I disagree entirely with respect to your composition comments a cropped version loses the space. Best regards and thanks. Rod Warnock

Rod, YAW. A cropped version loses what space? (Your sentence as written does not make sense...) I suggested only a crop from the bottom.

**Brent Wellander** · 12-12-2009, 12:59 PM

Hi Artie...thanks for the ACR clarification and all your help!

I believe I have been following the steps properly and have tried the conversion a few times now with the same results...

Here is a screen capture after resetting the the camera RAW defaults in ACR and before moving any sliders...

**Brent Wellander** · 12-12-2009, 01:01 PM

And here are the slider positions after the steps...

**Brent Wellander** · 12-12-2009, 01:06 PM

And here is the image after conversion with only sharpening & cropping in PS...

**Arthur Morris** · 12-12-2009, 03:08 PM

Much better but there are still more than a few hot pixels. Are you moving the Recovery Slider while holding down the ALT key? You need to do that rather than just watching for the RED highlight warnings to disappear....

**Brent Wellander** · 12-12-2009, 03:49 PM

Thanks Artie...I think that was my problem in the first repost, but not this one. The screen is black when you hold the ALT key while moving the slider.

It may just be from the screen capture itself, but the highlights do appear to be a little more subdued compared to the jpg?

**Rod Warnock** · 12-13-2009, 10:35 PM

Hi Artie You said "The dark shadow center-left (from the tree on our left) is distracting. It screams for a crop from the bottom; the o-o-f dirt adds nothing to the image but empty space. "
My Reply:however I disagree entirely with respect to your composition comments a cropped version loses the space. Best regards and thanks. Rod WarnocK
In reply Artie said:Rod, YAW. A cropped version loses what space? (Your sentence as written does not make sense...) I suggested only a crop from the bottom.
Arthur: the new image has been cropped as you suggest and not only from the bottom the composition has changed dramatically from the original which is the point I was trying to make plus there is loss of space on either side of the bird.

The bird itself has been dramatically improved agreed !! My basic point was that had this been done only leaving the image untouched with respect to it'scomposition it would have been better as the bird would have space around it..now it hasn't. Composition is a personal thing but I wonder what others think?
Best regards
Rod

**Arthur Morris** · 12-14-2009, 08:29 PM

Rod, I agree with you that the bird needed the room on each side as in the original image, but again, the empty space on the bottom was not needed at all.....

**Rod Warnock** · 12-15-2009, 05:36 AM

Arthur certainly the final image by Brent is superb ..the bird it self is now leaping at you and the total body detail magic. And hey !! Look at the 29 comment but really that staggering 390 lurker reading !!
Best regards to all
Rod

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