Saturday, September 27, 2008

Camera Critters: Redtailed Hawk



Red-Tailed Hawks are year-around residents of our area. Frequently they are seen perched high in a tree or on a utility pole where they can survey their surroundings, spotting prey and keeping a sharp look-out for danger. Seldom does an encounter with one of these majestic birds offer a good photographic opportunity.

This encounter, although near enough, did not afford me the quality of image that I seek but I though it acceptable to share. The encounter occurred in early morning with low light levels in the forest. I am pleased that it turned out as good as it did considering I shot it hand-held with the 400mm lens, ISO 800, at 1/30th of a second. This image would have been totally impossible without image stabilization.

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21 comments:

Juliana RW said...

wow..nice hawk

Please drop at my CC post also : in HERE Thanks

The Riverbum said...

As I was driving to a friend's house at dusk on Thursday, I pulled over on the side of the road to watch a hawk as it took a bath in a small pond. I had never seen a bird of prey enjoy the water so much. I was cussing myself for not having my camera with me!

ratmammy said...

that was a good photo, despite what you said! you got lucky!

Lapa37 said...

He's so beautiful your lucky to have gotten that shot.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: Totally agree with all you say about hawks. They don't like to have there photos taken. Nice capture and I love your new header.

Unknown said...

These guys really are hard to get a good shot of and soooo exciting when you do.

Now that I've got my computer set up and running I'll get back and see what else you've been doing.

My Camera Critters is here

Christy said...

When capturing nature sometimes good enough is the best we can hope for. I understand the frustration, though.
It is a beautiful image of the redtail hawk.

Unknown said...

You may not think it was a good capture,but I think it's beautiful.We have red-tailed hawks in our yard,and we love to watch them.Never got that good a picture either.

bobbie said...

A very nice picture. Hawks just take my breath away. Wonderful to watch soaring.

Misty DawnS said...

I LOVE hawks... they are SO beautiful!

Reader Wil said...

It's a great shot in spite of the distance! Hawks are very impressive birds.

Tink *~*~* said...

When I lived on Long Island, the red-tailed hawks used to perch on the very high light poles over the parkways. I would always look for them when traveling around sundown/dusk.

Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*

Anonymous said...

Fabulous! Thanks for sharing.

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judi/Gmj said...

Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

great photo.

Meggie said...

It looks like a great photo to me, Salty, though I'm no pro that's for sure! I recently saw a red tail fly over my truck and what a vivid red color to its tail. It was amazing! My sights until then were from quite a distance where I could barely make out the tail color.

Rambling Woods said...

Red-tails are so beautiful...

Dirkjogt said...

Great capture, not easy! Well done.

lv2scpbk said...

A wonderful capture.

Gretchen said...

It's a great shot! I never get that close to hawks.

Louise said...

I'm not sure what you were looking for, but I love this. Perfectly framed (possibly it was all there was, but it works), and the depth of field and color make it an excellent shot in my opinion. I agree they are difficult to capture. When they are close enough to photograph, they don't appreciate my trying.