Female Northern Harrier in Snow

[Tom Redd]

A light snow was falling and she was hunting. C&C welcome.

D3s
300mm
f/2.8
1/1000
iso 800
+2/3 ev
H/H

[Julie Kenward]

Tom, this is beautiful! How in the world you got this image with a 2/8 aperture is beyond me. It looks sharp from beak to tail!

Normally, having the bird flying away from you would be a problem but he turned that head back and gave you the once over and wow, does that add impact! The angle of the bird to your camera is also very strong - we get to see almost every area of the bird's body. The soft blues of the BG and the snow coming down really compliment the bird. It's a stunning image.

[Peter Farrell]

I agree with Julie, stunning image. Great that you got the head turn. Nice detail and BG and the snow falling adds a lot.
Peter

[Steve Wasson]

Really nice shot, Tom. Wish those departing birds would always turn for a final glance!

[Tom Redd]

Thank you Julie, Peter and Steve for the kind comments.

[John Chardine]

I like the soft tones of the image and agree that it's nice and sharp for f2.8. DoF increases with distance so if the subject was a long way off and this was a significant crop, it makes more sense. Although the slight head turn saves the image, one imagines what could have been had the bird been flying toward you rather than away.

[Tom Redd]

John, yes, there is a significant crop, 35% roughly. Thanks for the reply.