Mating Hawks

[Stuart Hill]

Just wondered what opinions are on this image. Taken at Vierra Wetlands earlier this year. I had been photographing the female sat on the fence when the male appeared and it all happened in seconds. Lots of movement in the bodies of the birds but the heads are sharp. Still unsure as to my feelings on the image. Much would have preferred a natural perch and faster shutter speed but find myself keeping the image and revisiting it.

Thanks for any critique/advice.

regards.
Stu.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Stuart, its an interesting one for sure. Nice BG blur, excellent moment, good comp.....sharp heads as you said. Light is nice and soft. Perch is the main issue....I also feel that it is a bit oversharpened in post.

Let us know the camera, lens, SS, ISO, aperture.

[Marina Scarr]

You have captured some killer behavior/action and I would be very happy with this photo. You have good angle on the birds and can see both of their faces. It is possible that it is a tad oversharpened. The perch is an issue which you could not avoid, and this photo is marketable nonetheless.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Well that is not something you see everyday! Yes, the perch could have been better, but I still like the bit of habitat visible and you have a lovely pale green BG. I would try to tone down the closest part of that railing as it is a bit bright and attention-seeking. I too feel the image looks oversharpened in parts. I could mention the HA of the male, but I won't

Exif and equipment used would indeed be nice...

[Don Lacy]

Image works for me really nice behavior captured and you have both faces sharp

[wendell westfall]

Stuart, I like. My only suggestion would be to remove the "needle-like" branch coming up at an angle from the bottom.

Wendell

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice behavior, they look oversharpened on my screen too.

[Stuart Hill]

Thanks for the critiques. I'm afraid I committed a cardinal sin on this post and sharpened the file for print and then ran the "resize and sharpen for web" action I have to post. Hence the over sharpening which I didn't realise until you guys mentioned it.

Settings were 1/80s @ 5.6. D300 and Sig. 500 4.5. I just gunned it and reeled off 20 images of which only this had sharp heads.

Kind regards.
Stu.