Cooper's Hawk: A Missed Opportunity???

[Doug Brown]

I just got back from 3 days of raptor photography with Alan Murphy (thanks Alan!), and I got as close to wild raptors as I've ever gotten. It does require a bit of camouflage (see this thread) but the results are definitely worth it. Alan posted an incredible flight shot of a beautiful Cooper's Hawk yesterday, and I would like to tell you that I captured the exact same frame. But the truth is that I was not able to lock focus on the bird. We only got one shot at this handsome male in flight. I was, however, able to get a nice perched frame before he took off. Pretty sucky light (not too bad for perched shots, but we were going for flight), so we had to shoot wide open. As a result DOF really falls off quickly. But this image is sharp where it needs to be IMO.



Canon 1D Mark IV, 300mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 1250, manual exposure, hand held

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

DOF works for me, surprisingly good for f/2.8 in fact. I like the look back pose, nice dorsal detail, breast feathers blowing off to the side and comp.
Detail looks good for your ISO.

Cheers

Randy

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gorgeous shot, it is with some trepidation I have to say, I think perhaps the image is a tad bright, I attach an alternative for your consideration:

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice backside details and a great look. Wish to see the specie in person! brightness looks OK on my screen

[David N Smith]

Great capture Doug. I like the back shot and I agree with Randy on the DOF.

Dave

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Lucky you to get this guy with the head turn and great detail . Nice bg too.

[Dan Brown]

Love it, Doug! Great HA and BG! Second only to Alan's flight shot, IMO!

[Mark Itol]

Nice detail, background, and head turn.

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot. Excellent pose, real nice background, and detail is great.
Well done.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks everyone for the comments!