Sharp Shinned Hawk

[Ronald Zigler]

This is the closest encounter I have ever had with a Sharp Shinned Hawk; so close, that I had to recompose the hawk vertically before he/she flew away. One of my other images may be a bit sharper, but this seems to be the best of the lot overall. I used Photoshop Elements to reduce the distraction of an out-of-focus branch on the left. 300mm f4 L + 1.4x, @ 1/640, f8, ISO 2000.

[Joel Eade]

Ronald,

Looks like you got a good pose and head angle. The sharpness isn't too bad but it looks noisy to me, especially the background. It makes me wonder if it was a large crop or underexposed a little. I think it would help the image overall to run some noise reduction on the background. Congrats on getting close to this normally very shy species.

Joel

[Ronald Zigler]

Thanks Joel, I did not think about using noise reduction. I should have done so since the ISO is rather high (2000). This is, however, a full frame shot with no cropping whatsoever. Thanks again for the suggestion.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ronald,

Was the kit Nikon (given the high ISO) I like this picture. This is a great moment in nature and you captured it - I feel like I am there. I would remove the branch in the URHC. I am not familiar with elements but surely there are tools that will assist in its removal. The image tells a story and the composition works for me. The vertical frame compliments the image. I like the strong bottom branch showing both feet and the blurred green background shows the beautiful habitat. The picture shows strength with a regal pose - thanks for sharing.

Agree with Joel on a round of NR on the background.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ronald, nice capture making the most of the opportunity. The noise is pretty noticeable and I'm going to guess Canon... Please include the camera body in your tech info. A beautiful hawk and nicely posed for the camera. I like the exposure and color balance as well as the lovely feather pattern on the breast. Agree with pruning away the branch in the URC, and as long as you are gardening I would suggest removing the branch that goes right through the bird.

[Ronald Zigler]

Thanks Kerry. Yes, I am using a Canon 60D. In addition, I had set the camera for "strong" noise reduction for high ISO settings. Given the ISO of 2000 for this image, I made a caculated compromise since this was late afternoon light , with partial shade and I was handholding the camera. I am not sure what I could have done much differently. I did take this image originally as a RAW file, but I am still learning how to edit RAW files and have not been too ambitious with my edits there.

[Kerry Perkins]

Ronald, you didn't have a choice really, and I'm not suggesting that you could have done anything differently in the capture. A good learning opportunity for you in the processing however, isolating the hawk with a selection then running noise reduction on the background only. Also, those branches can be cloned out. By all means shoot in RAW, so much more flexibility after the shot. You might consider using "standard" high ISO NR in the camera. External software usually does a better job than the camera firmware.

[nancy hazen]

Great portrait, Ronald. I like the head position and soft BG. He looks content sitting there, just waiting for some unsuspection prey to fly by.