Red-shouldered Hawk

[Jim Crosswell]

Canon 30D
100-400L IS
400mm
ISO 250
f/5.6
1/125s
handheld

This was taken in Florida last year. This is taken on a cloudy day and the hawk is really wet. All C&Cs welcome.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the composition, soft light and BG and wish the head were angled a bit toward you and would sharpen the bird more.

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto Axel who nailed the two biggest problems. It is likely that the head is soft because you focused on the near-shoulder... The eye is well past the plane of focus, the shoulder. Simplest is is to use One-Shot AF, lock focus, and recompose. This works best if you are on a tripod else you might shift your position slightly after focusing....

[Peter Farrell]

Great compostion, the BG colors compliment the bird well. I really like the sharpness of the talons and tree.