I've been admiring the excellent photos on this site, and would like to add my humble contribution.
I found this red tailed hawk in a flooded farmer's field. I was able to get reasonably close due to the fact that he was concentrating on his dinner. Typically, in this area, raptors take flight as soon as you get in the same county. In any case, I was able to get several photos that I like, including some as he was eating, but the pose on this one appeals to me the most. I tend to prefer photos that show some of the subject's environment.
This was shot with my 30D, 100-400 lens at 400 mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec at F6.3. This was cropped to a vertical format from horizontal, as I decided after the fact that too much of the dead grasses detracted from the photo.
Welcome aboard, and you've got a great subject to present us a as first post! The dried grasses and patches of snow provide a beautiful backdrop for this guy. I am on the fence about the foreground water. Since this is cropped form horizontal, I'd suggest recropping it as a horizontal...eliminating the water and adding some of the original canvas to the left and a bit above. A real beauty!!
Last edited by Daniel Cadieux; 03-06-2008 at 09:42 PM.
Reason: typo
Welcome, Lyall! Very nice first post. I agree with Daniel regarding the water in the foreground. I like the pose, exposure control, details and setting. Keep them coming!
Big Welcome Lyall !!! Agree on the alternate crop Would love seeing the bird on the lower right side with lots of room to his left !!! The patches of straw and snow are very appealing and would like to see more !!!! Big Congrats !!!
1st Post - Red Tailed Hawk
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