First BPN post

[Peter Coskun]

Juvenile Accipter

Canon rebel XT
Canon 400mm F/5.6L usm at F/5.6
1/1600 second
400 iso
0 EV
fill flash using canon 420EX
40% crop

I'm new to this site and heard it is a great place to share photos and learn from other photographers, I would appreciate any kind of advice or tips.

[Randy Stout]

Peter:

A big welcome to BPN! It is in fact a great place to learn about bird photography.

Your bird is well exposed and I like the clear view of the feet, esp. the one talon raised up a bit. The placement of the bird in the frame is good.

The point of focus appears to have been on the breast, rather than the eye, as the breast and feet are a bit sharper than the eye and head. The bill would have shown a bit more clearly if the head had been turned a bit more to his right, so that it didn't merge with his neck.

The perch is a bit busy and the out of focus limbs in the foreground are a bit distracting.

Overall, a very nice first post, with a few things to watch for. I look forward to more posts. We work hard at BPN to improve our skills, and the comments about possible areas to watch are meant in that spirit.


Randy

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Peter! Very nice first post. I like the sharpness, eye contact and pose. I wish the OOF branches in the foreground were not there and would tone down the legs a bit. Keep them coming!

[Dave Phillips]

welcome Peter....some good critique given above.
Please note that BPN guidelines are for images to be no larger than 800px on vertical
and 1024px on horizontal. File size is limited to 200kb......you are at 345kb and 1024px tall.

Just a friendly FYI......looking forward to more from AZ

[Stu Bowie]

Welcome to BPN Peter. Lovely pose, and I like the detail and sharpness. If its in your ethics, I would clone out the branch below the LHS of the tail. Enjoy the ride on BPN.

[Mark Theriot]

A really nice image! How about shifting the hawk just a touch more to the right? Maybe get him just a little more off center?

Mark

[Peter Farrell]

Welcome to BPN. I am a new member myself and in a short time have learned a lot from critiques of my postings. Very nice image. I like the detail an pose. As mentioned already a little celanup on the OOF branches might help.

[jfranciskay]

Welcome Peter! A fine image. Sharpness and detail is very good. I think the sharpness of the head/eyes is fine. I would crop a bit off the top as it makes the bird look a bit too tall as is, and move it a smidgen to the right. Also agree on the branches below being a bit distracting. Exposure is excellent, with no blown highlights, plenty of shadow detail and the right amount of contrast. Also agree with the head angle, could be turned a bit more away from camera to get the beak, or more towards it to get both eyes.
.

Looking forward to more of your images!

[Michael Bertelsen]

Hi Peter,

Exposure and sharpness is very good. Personally I would try to remove the oof branches on the bottom and maybe crop with the bird just a little more to the right. Great first post!

Cheers,

Michael Bertelsen

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Peter, You heard right :) You have yourself quite a welcoming committee here. I believe that the bird is a Cooper's (based on the step-ladder tail feathers that give Coops their rounded tails). Best advice: get the bird to land on a single branch!

With the light from the right and the bill a bit lost in the bird's neck taking two big steps to your right would have lessened both of those problems.

[Peter Coskun]

thank you all very much for the feedback, i too am not as fond of the OOF branches there, though wasn't sure if i should have cloned them, as far as taking a few steps over i might have ended up in a barrel cactus, i have a few other shots of this bird in different poses i may post to see if they are a bit better

thanks again!

[Peter Coskun]

welcome Peter....some good critique given above.
Please note that BPN guidelines are for images to be no larger than 800px on vertical
and 1024px on horizontal. File size is limited to 200kb......you are at 345kb and 1024px tall.

Just a friendly FYI......looking forward to more from AZ

thank you, i will remember that for my next post

[Hendri Venter]

Welcome to BPN Peter. Nits mentioned but a very good 1st. Keep on posting,

[Arthur Morris]

Hendri, Regarding the use of the word "nits:"

nit·pick·ing (ntpkng) n. Minute, trivial, unnecessary, and unjustified criticism or faultfinding.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

While at times some of our suggestions might pertain to minute details, in very, very few instances would they qualify as trivial, unnecessary, or unjustified. When folks state, "Nits already covered," they are implying that the suggestions that were made above were trivial, needless, and unwarranted. Nothing could be further from the truth; someone has simply taken the time to help the poster improve their images. To refer to those efforts as unnecessary or unjustified is insulting. And if folks refer to their own efforts as nit-picking ("This may be nit-picking but...") then they are insulting their own efforts.

There are lots of options that do not carry any negative connotations. Among them are "suggestions," "suggestions for improvement," or "option" (an option might be to clone out the rock). "You might have considered doing this...." or I wish that ...." also work well. Instead of saying, "This might be nit-picking,' you might try "This is a minor point..."

I am asking that each of you refrain from using "nit-picking" (or any of the related forms of the word) in your posts. :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice first post, Congrats :)
Do wish for a cleaner perch I would clone out the FG OOF twigs. It looks like a juvi Cooper's to me. TFS

[Peter Coskun]

Very nice first post, Congrats :)
Do wish for a cleaner perch I would clone out the FG OOF twigs. It looks like a juvi Copper's to me. TFS

thanks! I've been told by a few that it is a coopers hawk, I wish i could have gotten a photo of an adult with the red eye... I will have to work on the photo to see if i can get those twigs out nicely

[Arthur Morris]

thanks! I've been told by a few that it is a coopers hawk, I wish i could have gotten a photo of an adult with the red eye... I will have to work on the photo to see if i can get those twigs out nicely

It is a Cooper's Hawk. See my comments in Pane #10 as to why. And Arash is correct, it is a juvenile. And yes, we would all like to photograph the adult of that species :)

[Aaron Lee]

Best advice: get the bird to land on a single branch!

With the light from the right and the bill a bit lost in the bird's neck taking two big steps to your right would have lessened both of those problems.

I wish no offense,but I think it may be pertinant to remember that some folks [me included] are photographing birds in the wild-and I mean wild,not birds that are acclimated to people,cars,noise,etc.
Shooting an avian subject that is used to humans,on a pond,in a tree,in or near a city,makes for a very pleasant,controlled capture. It is not,however,in the same realm as stalking a truly wild subject that has a natural built in shyness of humans-one that will cause it to vacate an area at the snap of one small twig underfoot or if it spots any sort of motion whatsoever. Unless holding in an area for food, 99.99% of all raptors will flee an area before you even see them-your eyes are no match for theirs,so this is understandable. To get within telephoto range of a truly wild raptor-with no baiting,calling,blind,etc. is a feat in itself-at least where I live.:)
I've offered $1000 cash to friends many times with the challenge to simply stalk within 50 yards of a perched Red Tailed Hawk-a wild one,in my plat of river bottom woods. Many have tried thru the years,and no one has ever collected.:D
If the Hawk in the OP's beautiful image happened to land near the OP and didn't see him immediately,taking "two big steps" would be the same as firing off a mortar round.
To stalk a truly wild bird or animal,with no aid of call,blind or bait,and get that perfect shot where light,perch,HA,etc. all come together-all by happenstance,is an event that only comes around a few times per lifetime.
Remember,I'm not meaning any offense,but we aren't all shooting the same "type" of critters.:cool:

[Arthur Morris]

No offense taken. Please do realize that more than 90% of the images that I create are of free, wild, un-restrained birds that have not been attracted by any means. I do understand that folks living in certain areas of the country need to deal with birds that are more skittish than the birds here in Florida. I will admit to traveling to areas where birds are somewhat or completely acclimated to people.

Do know that I know my way around truly wild birds and that I am as adept at getting close by stalking as anyone out there.

The bird in the original post here might have landed on a single branch as easily as it landed on the messy perch....

[Peter Coskun]

the bird did in fact perch on another branch that was less obstructed, however i was unable to get any close shots on that perch

[arash_hazeghi]

I wish no offense,but I think it may be pertinant to remember that some folks [me included] are photographing birds in the wild-and I mean wild,not birds that are acclimated to people,cars,noise,etc.
Shooting an avian subject that is used to humans,on a pond,in a tree,in or near a city,makes for a very pleasant,controlled capture. It is not,however,in the same realm as stalking a truly wild subject that has a natural built in shyness of humans-one that will cause it to vacate an area at the snap of one small twig underfoot or if it spots any sort of motion whatsoever. Unless holding in an area for food, 99.99% of all raptors will flee an area before you even see them-your eyes are no match for theirs,so this is understandable. To get within telephoto range of a truly wild raptor-with no baiting,calling,blind,etc. is a feat in itself-at least where I live.:)
I've offered $1000 cash to friends many times with the challenge to simply stalk within 50 yards of a perched Red Tailed Hawk-a wild one,in my plat of river bottom woods. Many have tried thru the years,and no one has ever collected.:D
If the Hawk in the OP's beautiful image happened to land near the OP and didn't see him immediately,taking "two big steps" would be the same as firing off a mortar round.
To stalk a truly wild bird or animal,with no aid of call,blind or bait,and get that perfect shot where light,perch,HA,etc. all come together-all by happenstance,is an event that only comes around a few times per lifetime.
Remember,I'm not meaning any offense,but we aren't all shooting the same "type" of critters.:cool:

Aaron you should come visit California and bring the cash ;) because I am going to win it in an instant :D Cooper's are a bit shy but you can certainly get very very close to wild red tails (at least here in Cali) they know no one's gonna mess up with them :)

[Aaron Lee]

Lol,re-read my post. It has to be on MY property!:D
We have well over 100 acres of private woods,river,grain fields,and I'll let you choose any of the Red Tails that hang there. Like I said,dozens of seasoned hunters have tried to take the cash for years-no dice.:D