Red-tailed Hawk in Autumn setting.

[ngannet]

What you see in these pictures: a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk in decent lighting with nice autumn backdrop.

What you don't see: trees whipping around violently and me barely being able to hold the camera still due to 40mph winds! Luckily it wasn't cold, otherwise it would have been unbearable! I was surprised to see as many birds as I did. They were fairly stationary, perched inconspicuously (or not) out of the winds. I watched this 'tail for a good 15 minutes I'd say. It was maybe 30' away and fully saw me, didn't even care.

[canonloader]

Well, it was all worth it. Excellent captures. ;)

[ngannet]

Thanks! Indeed it was worth it. I was very happy with that short hike.

[Airedale1]

Very nice Bob, yes the winds have been very high here too. The trees whipping in the BG do produce strange effects.

[IanC_UK]

nice shots you can tell its doing a lot balancing in that first shot ! :)

[cheerio0s]

It looks skinny or starved. Good shot though

[ngannet]

Skinny?? Starved?? I was thinking it was one of the stockiest Red-tails I have seen. It was massive.

[catsith]

lovely shots

[Reigh Higgins]

Very nice . Beautiful hawk.Thanks for sharing.

[canondslruser]

Very nice catch. I especially like the second shot. Both images appear a bit light and lacking in contrast though. These hawks are very hard to get close to, let alone find one here. They are around but usually in the countryside and when you do catch sight of one it's off in the distance somewhere. Hmmmmmm, you guys are experiencing strong winds too eh?

[Stephen Stephen]

Lovely shots Bob. I would agree with Canondslruser about the lightness (at least on my monitor) particularly in the first shot.

To show you what I mean I've adjusted the Gamma correction down to 90%

[ngannet]

Thanks all. Hmm, that's disappointing. I thought they looked good and contrasty on my monitor. They probably look bad on everyone else's monitors too.:(

[canonloader]

They look good on mine, Viewsonic 19" LCD. A little light, but still real sharp.

[kr88]

Wow Bob, these are great shots, vivid crisp and well focused. What a fine looking raptor. Not a problem on my monitor also! Nice going. :)

[Paul A]

The first is a tad light on my monitor, but they look great, well done.

[Gary Fairhead]

I did not really notice at first that they were on the light side. The first is a little light I suppose but the second one looks good as posted on my monitor. I wish it was mine!!

[ngannet]

Wow Bob, these are great shots, vivid crisp and well focused. What a fine looking raptor. Not a problem on my monitor also! Nice going. :)

Thanks all. Keith, I'm wondering if it looks fine for you and I 'cause we are both using Macs? They don't look light to me at all. I'll have to check it on the PC at work tomorrow. Thanks Stephen Stephen for the correction, looks good.

[Anthony J Howe]

Thanks all. Hmm, that's disappointing. I thought they looked good and contrasty on my monitor. They probably look bad on everyone else's monitors too.:(

Not so Bob, your edits looks excellent, Stephen image has just slightly improved the contrast of the image. I too I'm using a mac and on my monitor for the PC it's slightly darker than the Mac..

I don't know where the skinny and starved comes from unless it was a joke, but this bird looks very healthy.

The puffed up feathers in the first shot shows how windy it is and looks a great image and the pose of the second one is perfect, well done.

[Stephen Stephen]

Thanks all. Hmm, that's disappointing. I thought they looked good and contrasty on my monitor. They probably look bad on everyone else's monitors too.:(

Hi Bob, I could have adjusted the Gamma more but I was just trying to show you, and others, what I meant.

I agree with Gary, Id' be proud to have either of these wonderful shots in my collection! :lol:

Heck, I'd be pleased to have any red-tail shot in my collection.

[Reyno]

Excellent captures, crisp and detailed and the color is just fantastic. Well done Ngannet.

[jpalmer]

nice job in those conditions wot lens did u use (400 5.6 bye any chance)
many thanks
jason

[johnstoy]

Really looks great...Lucky you...the bokeh is fantastic too...
They normally don't hang around when spotted...
the wind was real bad here in PA too...

[kr88]

Thanks all. Keith, I'm wondering if it looks fine for you and I 'cause we are both using Macs? They don't look light to me at all. I'll have to check it on the PC at work tomorrow. Thanks Stephen Stephen for the correction, looks good.

I did check the image on my PC with 20" Sony CRT and it looks slightly lighter than the Apple 20 LCD. Both look fine though the variation is ever so slight. Stephen's adjusted image looks better on the Sony & PC.

I agree with what has been said, and no matter how you look at them, they are indeed excellent!!

[ngannet]

Thanks everyone. Yes, these were taken with the 400mm f5.6L. I checked the images at work on their Dell computer and they looked basically the same as they do on my HP monitor. Stephen's adjusted image looks a bit darker there though. The prints came out as I wanted, so that's cool. Thanks all again for the comments!

[dancad]

Beautiful hawk you got here. Nicely photographed. I prefer the second one, but love the pose in the first.