Well.. I WISH this was a better shot.. all things considered I did as well as I could.. this Coopers Hawk was perched on a dead branch outside my kitchen window.. I had to shoot through glass AND a screen.. in low light besides.. AND hand held at a low shutter speed.. if you factor it all in.. its actually an amazing shot.... of course all anyone sees is the results.. which are hardly amazing....
1d Mk III
500 mm F4 with 1.4 TC
ISO 1250
1/60
f6.3
Nice pose and BG, Photographing through good windows is not necessarily a problem but the screen really hurts the image quality. If you have, I would add more space at the bottom because the 'virtual' tail is clipped and raise the color temperature since it has a slight blue cast.
Why hand held? Great bird, and yes your are right, the only thing that is ever judged is the image itself not the difficultly in obtaining it. IAC, simply darkening and sharpening the pupil would make it look a lot better. A second look reveals that the eye problem might be with the nictitating membrane... That's an easy fix with a Quick mask... I am fine with the virtual tail being clipped but not with the toe being clipped.
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well you might ask why handheld... lets just say the kitchen is NOT my domain... this window is on of 2 in the kitchen right at the corner of the house.. both have screens because my honey likes some fresh air in the kitchen and doesnt like flies and mosquitoes.. there is about 3 foot of counter just to reach the window.. there are all kinds of nick nacs and gadgets.. no room for a tripod.... the best I can do is rest the camera on a bread box.. which doesnt work too bad.. but with the slow shudder speed and screen so far its been a very tough shoot out that window.. sadly... its there the hawk keeps showing up.. and a pair of pileateds as well.... so far my outdoor blinds have done nothing but scare them off... hopefully I will figure out the solution at some point.. the hawk was back today... my shots were just as bad this time!... *sigh*.. you would think with experience Id get better
Coopers Hawk
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