Dec Theme: Cooper's vs rabbit

[Bryan Hix]

I was out at Montrose beach this morning in Chicago and as I was walking back to my car, I noticed this rabbit that clearly had something wrong with it as it was listing to one side and could only run in tight circles. I put my 600mm lens, Mk3, and tripod in the car and walked over to see what the deal was. The rabbit ran when I was about 3 feet away and slid under the fence. I decided to let in be and walked back around to my car. When I turned back to look, this Cooper's Hawk swooped in a started attacking the rabbit. It made several runs at it and fortunately I had my 50D with my new 70-200mm f/2.8 II with me and I walked right up to the action and started shooting. I have about 7 good shots, so I thought I would post at least one. I liked this because the rabbit is in mid-air and snow is flying. Pretty awesome to be that close. In the end, the rabbit hunkered down under a bush with the Cooper's perched about 10 feet above it. I'm sure it didn't end well for the rabbit.

Canon 50 D
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM II
ISO 320, 1/4000th@f/4, AvMode, Eval 0 comp
9:35am, 22 degrees
LR 3.3, PSE9: Crop, adj shadows, sharpen, cloned out branch

[Chris Martinez]

OH BABY!! Action a plenty!! The look in each animal's eye is so different. Bunny scrambling for its life and bird focussed on the kill. I've never witnessed anything like this and can only guess that it all happens so quickly.
Nice light on the bird and the bunny looks great too. Shame about the brown stuff(OOF branches?) but the actions keep the eyes entertained.

[Tom Redd]

Congrats on capturing a wonderful shot. Right place, right time, right skills. I like that both the Cooper's and the rabbit are in focus and the action of the snow flying off the rabbits rear feet. TFS

[Mark Young]

Wow! The action captured is just awesome! Congrats, this is a ripper of an image.

[philperry]

Amazing action shot Brian. Right place at the right time. Great technique to get everything so sharp.

I am not worried by OOF branches. You can crop a little on right perhaps. But a great image whichever way you look at it.

[Rohan Kamath]

Amazing action captured here. The expressions of predator and prey are seen so perfectly. Superb exposure too with nice details in the bird, the bunny and the kicked up snow.



-Regards,
Rohan
__________________________________________________ _
Conservation begins at HOME... We CAN make a difference...

[Harshad Barve]

Bryan

This is super catch for both of you and this image will fetch many awards too
TFS

[Jeroen Stel]

Amazing action captured here!
Love those talons and the upright position of the wings.

Well done!

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

[Joe Brown]

Excellent job of capturing the action. You have taken full advantage of a great opportunity.

Joe

[Randy Stout]

Bryan:

"Luck favors the prepared"

Nice job! Yes, the branch is a minor issue, which you can fix, but the impact of the image is great, and that is what makes a winning image.

Congrats!

Randy

[Richard Pittam]

A terrifyingly stunning image - 'nuf said !!!

[George Cottay]

Wow! There has to be a contest somewhere for this one.

I even like the branch in that it provides a hint of hope that the hawk had to find diner other than one of your models.

[Don Lacy]

Wonderful image Bryan for all the reasons mention. well done.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow Bryan, what an opportunity and you sure didn't miss it!! The action is top notch, both poses perfect (wings fully up!!). I even don't mind the branches, and I like how George describes them:). Way to go!

[Michael Lotito]

As good as it gets!

[Danny J Brown]

Bryan,

I bow to you for making a perfect shot under emergency conditions. Well done, my friend. My wife says "wow" as well. Great image.

DB

P.S. Just about the coolest shot I've ever seen on BPN.

[Brendan Dozier]

Amazing action, drama! Nice detail on a dream shot.

[Craig Brelsford]

Probably the best action shot I've seen on this forum. Creativity occurs where opportunity meets preparation. You rose to the occasion.

[Joey Lounsbury]

This is an amazing shot! both the Hawk and rabbit are tack sharp and perfectly exposed. I hope you are hanging this one on your wall!

[Bryan Hix]

Thank you everyone for the nice comments. I appreciate them.:)

[Nate Chappell]

Congrats again Bryan, great job being prepared to get this. :cool::cool:

[Seyed Babak Musavi]

The action captured is awesome! Congrats,
with best wishes
Babak