Hawk in my neighbor's yard: This guy just finished either a snake or a lizard when I saw him. He stayed on the drive, I ran after my camera, walking toward him, I was getting pretty...

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

This guy just finished either a snake or a lizard when I saw him. He stayed on the drive, I ran after my camera, walking toward him, I was getting pretty close until my 3 yr old grandson screamed, "Come back!" oh well, such is the life of a grandma.
I would love some ideas on better composition and PP. I did get one with a great clear eye, but I cut off his claws.

f/11; 125s; 200mm; 200 ISO

Hawk

smcaleer Loc: Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Can up post the download version so we can get a good look at it?

I'd like to see the one with the clear eye and cut off claw. Maybe you could crop it attractively?

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

bedgmon wrote:

f/11; 125s; 200mm; 200 ISO

Interesting subject but hard to tell if the image is sharp with this thumbnail. You might want to increase your exposure time when shooting at 200mm to have better control of potential camera shake and consider using a larger f/stop with an image of this type to separate the subject from the background. Composition is fair but you may wish to leave a bit more room on the right side of the frame or try a vertical crop and see how it looks. Admittedly, it is difficult at times to have all the right settings when an opportunity for capturing a subject like this presents itself. Thanks for posting this photo for critique. 8-)

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

smcaleer wrote:

Can up post the download version so we can get a good look at it?
would love for you to help me out. I thought I checked store original, but knowing me. I sent an uncropped version.

I'd like to see the one with the clear eye and cut off claw. Maybe you could crop it attractively?

I certainly can send you the footless wonder! You might have to assist with what would be a good crop.

I tried to crop in the rule of 3rds, but it just isn't very stellar. I was so excited to get so close that my nervous self produced a bit of camera shake.

Hawk w/no claws

Original

smcaleer Loc: Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Ok, here's what I see.....It appears to me that the cut off claw shot has a better shot of the eye (because the other shot has the eye in shadow), however, the cut off claw shot doesn't seem to be as sharp as the other shot.

If I shot these, I'd keep them, but I'd keep trying for something I was more happy with. I've never seen hawks where I live, so I'd be happy with either of these in my keeper file.

I don't know if this crop works or not, but this is what I was thinking.

I wish the hawk had been facing the other direction, but we can't control that. I also wish there wasn't a shadow over the eye in the one picture.

I think I would try to get more shots. I like my birds to have the feathers in sharp focus. I'm not usually successful in getting the eye and the feathers sharp in the same picture.

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

Bmac wrote:

Interesting subject but hard to tell if the image ... (show quote)

Thank you for taking your time to look and help. I was walking steadily toward the hawk and should have stopped to try increase the f/stop. I just got too excited to think. I posted the uncropped version. Again, many thanks. :D

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

smcaleer wrote:

Ok, here's what I see.....It appears to me that th... (show quote)

Thank you, I do think you made it look much better and I greatly appreciate your time and help. Cross your fingers and toes and just maybe my composition will improve. What if I used an area focus opposed to spot focus? Would that make the whole bird be in focus?
I just can't seem to get a nice sharp image on anything hand holding.
I noticed you use a 70D. How are you liking it? Rick Sammons thinks it is the best camera value. I have heard only good things about it! Would love to have the low light capabilities. Again, much thanks to you.

smcaleer Loc: Dearborn Heights, Michigan

bedgmon wrote:

Thank you, I do think you made it look much better... (show quote)

Honestly, as for focus, I can't be of any help because I'm still having focus issues myself.

As for the 70D, I love it! Unfortunately, I haven't mastered the low light shooting without lots of noise. The ISO will go as high as 3200 and yet noise seems to start around 400 ISO. I'm still learning, but I really do love the camera. I use to shoot with Nikon so the transition over to Canon threw in an added learning curve. It's faster than my last camera, better in low light (my Nikon was impossible to get anything, including noisy shots, in low light), it has way more bells and whistles and I'm slowly trying to learn how to use things.

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

smcaleer wrote:

Honestly, as for focus, I can't be of any help bec... (show quote)

As you can tell, I have significant camera shake. I really do like back button focus a hunk better than using the shutter button focus. It seems when I use a f/stop of less than 5.6 I have trouble honing in on my subject and achieving sharp focus.

infocus Loc: Australia

bedgmon wrote:

This guy just finished either a snake or a lizard when I saw him. He stayed on the drive, I ran after my camera, walking toward him, I was getting pretty close until my 3 yr old grandson screamed, "Come back!" oh well, such is the life of a grandma.
I would love some ideas on better composition and PP. I did get one with a great clear eye, but I cut off his claws.

f/11; 125s; 200mm; 200 ISO

I think the first one is a great image that would benefit from a crop. (IMHO)

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

infocus wrote:

I think the first one is a great image that would benefit from a crop. (IMHO)

You certainly made an improvement to my original. Thanks. :-D :D

smcaleer Loc: Dearborn Heights, Michigan

infocus wrote:

I think the first one is a great image that would benefit from a crop. (IMHO)

I like this crop.

JC56 Loc: Lake St.Louis mo.

bedgmon wrote:

I certainly can send you the footless wonder! You might have to assist with what would be a good crop.

I tried to crop in the rule of 3rds, but it just isn't very stellar. I was so excited to get so close that my nervous self produced a bit of camera shake.

Imho...#2 is a great photo..tac sharp...great color....clean and bright.......small nit..I would crop off a 1/3 of the room on the left.
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

bedgmon wrote:

I certainly can send you the footless wonder! You might have to assist with what would be a good crop.

I tried to crop in the rule of 3rds, but it just isn't very stellar. I was so excited to get so close that my nervous self produced a bit of camera shake.

I've added a little to the highlights and shadows then cropped. I am curious if you like them.

Original

Horizontal Crop

Vertical Crop

bedgmon Loc: Burleson, Texas

JC56 wrote:

Imho...#2 is a great photo..tac sharp...great color....clean and bright.......small nit..I would crop off a 1/3 of the room on the left.
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thank you for your kind words. Help me out here. I thought you needed somewhere for the bird to fly. I really do need your help with composition and your help is greatly appreciated.