Rough-legged Hawk

[Raymond Lee]

Hi everyone,

Took this shot just this past Sunday. I drove past it at first (on my right), I then made a U-turn and parked next to the hawk (now on my left), which was about to finish up feeding a rodent of some sort. The hawk was cooperative enough and gave me a few head pose before taking off away from my camera.




Beaver County, Alberta, Canada. October 23, 2011.
Canon EOS 7D | EF 400mm f/5.6L | Manual mode, 1600 sec., f/7.1, ISO 640 @ 400mm.
Cloned out a few thistles near the tail.

Thanks for all C&C!

Raymond

[Randy Stout]

Ray:

Classic raptor gaze, sharp, good DOF.
The tight vertical works with this head angle for me. In a perfect world, would wish for a bit more illumination on his left side of the face, or the head turned a sliver more away to he was a bit more in profile.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Raymond, nice looking bird set against an ideal BKG to really help define the bird and show off the lovely plumage. Again, I agree with Randy on his observations and perhaps you could just lighten the slightly darker areas as an adjustment layer to bring out a hint more within the image. Good choice on the format too.

One question I do have is, what is coming from the right leg as viewed, looks like a strap or jesse, but it can't be, just puzzled to what it could be?

TFS
Steve

[Randy Stout]

Steve:

I saw the little dark object also, looks like a small broken off twig to me? Perhaps picked up when he was grasping the rodent?

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Ray, comp works well, and I like the eye contact. Good DOF, and I like the colours and detail on the hawk. I really like the lighter BG, makes the hawk pop nicely.

[Raymond Lee]

Ray:

Classic raptor gaze, sharp, good DOF.
The tight vertical works with this head angle for me. In a perfect world, would wish for a bit more illumination on his left side of the face, or the head turned a sliver more away to he was a bit more in profile.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Randy, I actually have another shot with with the head turned a bit away exposing more of the right eye/face. Thanks for the suggestion!

Steve:

I saw the little dark object also, looks like a small broken off twig to me? Perhaps picked up when he was grasping the rodent?

Cheers

Randy

It's a small twig. It let go the twig when it took off. As you said, most likely grabbed the rodent and the twig at the same time.

Ray, comp works well, and I like the eye contact. Good DOF, and I like the colours and detail on the hawk. I really like the lighter BG, makes the hawk pop nicely.

Thanks Stuart! It was one of my best opportunities of a Rough-legged Hawk in my area this fall...I have a few more not just a perch shot. In previous seasons, these birds just wouldn't cooperate or soaring high in the sky.


Thanks for everyone's comments!

Cheers,
Raymond

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Ray.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, I would love to see one of those from so close...you were lucky to encounter this guy with a meal remnant...most likely the reason it stayed longer than it would (raptors tens to more approachable during mealtime). I would love to see your version with the face more in profile to hide the far eye being in shadow. I would also see if warming the WB would give you a nice result...especially to the BG..what do you think?

[Raymond Lee]

Man, I would love to see one of those from so close...you were lucky to encounter this guy with a meal remnant...most likely the reason it stayed longer than it would (raptors tens to more approachable during mealtime). I would love to see your version with the face more in profile to hide the far eye being in shadow. I would also see if warming the WB would give you a nice result...especially to the BG..what do you think?

Thanks for the advice! I think it looks better already by further warming the bird. Warming the background (via warm filter in PS) really enhances the prairie colours of Alberta. I guess I didn't go further enough in terms of editing the colour balance in my first post.

Here's the repost as per your advice and others (i.e., lighten up a bit the left cheek).



Cheers,
Raymond

[Daniel Cadieux]

You're welcome! The lightened cheek looks better, and you'll need to dark that side's pupil...it should be as black as the other one. Just a small thing I know, but it can make a big difference. Again, what a great op you had!