red-tailed hawk in flight

[Celeste Painter]

I tried some new settings after reading some of the posts here -- I usually shoot w/ a 200 ISO and slower shutter speed, but decided to boost it up a bit. A higher ISO seemed to work since none of my subjects are very apt at flying within the most flattering light angle. I also used quite a bit more post processing than normal (for me, normal = raw with some cropping). Oh, and yes, my watermark is terrible.


canon 100-400L @400mm, cropped
1/1000 sec @f/9.0
ISO 640
lightroom post processing


red-tailed hawk (female?)

[Kerry Perkins]

Hello Celeste, big welcome to BPN and Eager to Learn! Nice first post and good shooting technique to get the flight capture. The image looks bright overall to me and I think you could have gone even higher with the shutter speed. You caught a really nice wing position, but the light angle was not good and gave you mixed lighting - some in bright sun and some in shade. You could try lightening the dark parts of the hawk in LR, but chances are good that it will end up looking artificial. The trick is to get the hawk either fully in the sun or fully in the shade, which is the case when they pass overhead. What camera body did you use? There is quite a bit of noise in the image, especially in the background. Keep shooting and trying new things, lots to be learned here at BPN. Looking forward to more.

[Doug West]

Celeste...you did a pretty good job, especially in recognizing the need for
a faster shutter speed.

The one main problem is the light, looks like its coming from the back. If
you had the light at your back, the image would be a real winner, cause
you had a great wing position and it looks like a good head angle.

Get the light behind you and you'll see a world of difference.

And your watermark is fine.

Doug

[Celeste Painter]

Thanks Kerry and Doug. I was using a canon 5dm2 with the 100-400 dust pump. I did need to crop it -- perhaps that is the cause of the noise? I do find that I'm always fighting both noise and light. For some reason, the birds around here know to put themselves between me and the sun (I think so they can see me clearer).

I've always wondered if the trick is a longer and/or clearer lens, but I see so many good shots that are taken w/ lesser lenses that I can't use that as my excuse. I would however, like to try a 2x extender with the 300 f4 (but I believe there's an autofocus issue with my body and that combination).

The photo felt cold to me so I decided to warm it up a bit -- I think it helped, but better as you both said, better lighting was definitely needed:





Oh, and I was able to fix the watermark on both of them (before the original got posted) so the old hideous watermark is gone for good.

Thanks again!
-Celeste

[Kerry Perkins]

Celeste, much better color balance in the repost - the warming really looks nice to me. Sometimes I find myself humbled by trying to outsmart a bird...