Red-tailed youngster

[Bill Dix]

Yesterday, from my local marsh. He had just dive-bombed eight Wood Ducks and chased them out of their hiding place in the reeds. I tracked him down and found him perched here feeling very proud of himself. I'm guessing this is a 1-year-old, light morph Red-tailed Hawk. Cloned out a few off branches and vines, and moved the tree a bit to the left to give him some room. I could have taken the tree trunk out altogether, I suppose, but I thought it made for an interesting comp. What do you think?

D7000, 500f4 + 1/4, ISO 1250, 1/1250s @ f/7.1 manual, gitzo and mongoose

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Bill, I like the pose and details, I find the branch that is crossing the perch behind the hawk distracting. would clone that one plus the oof stick coming out of the shoulder area.

The tree trunk is super straight!

[gail bisson]

Very nice Bill. I would crop off a bit more from the left to reduce the impact of the tree but still anchor the image. Good HA. I would also clone out the branch coming off the bird's left shoulder. Excellent IQ at ISO 1250.
Gail

[jack williamson]

The hawk is very sharp and in nice light. I like the tone of the BG. Agree with the other comments.

Jack

[Robert Holguin]

Great shot. I really like the pose, very well lit, exposed very well, and excellent detail.
Agree on the oof branches.
Well done.

[dankearl]

Very nice pose and sharpness on the hawk Bill.
I agree the tree overpowers it a bit , but you can't have it all. The Hawk looks terrific.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, the comp works for me, and what a dead straight tree trunk. Perfect pose, good show of the talons, and another vote for removing the branches at the bottom.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks, everyone, for the helpful comments. I left the oof branches in the upper bg, thinking they kept the bg from being too plain. I could easily tone down the one coming off the shoulder as Gail suggested. Probably a good idea. The lower branch disturbed me some, but I resisted the difficult cloning task of taking it away where it crosses the trunk, just as one resists doing their income tax return. Based on all of your comments, I guess I should give it a try. Just after I finish my taxes.