My wife and I left town to eat breakfast at an adjoining town and came across a hawk sitting on a fence post near a highway intersection. We pulled over to admire it. My wife said lets go home and get your camera, I said it would never be here when we got back from the 15 minute round trip. We watched it for about 3-4 minutes and it flew off. We crossed the intersection to head to the restaurant ant found two more of these birds feeding in the grass. I thought maybe they would still be here and went back for my camera; lo and behold they were still there. I find that around here, mostly red-tailed hawks, are quite skittish and won't let you get close enough to get a good photo. These guys (gals?) were quite willing to pose and perform. Did not even have to get out of the car.

This photo was taken for submission to the 1951 Life Magazine Contest for Young Photographers, which drew more than 4,000 entries. The baby girl's father was a fellow ex-GI in college, and her mother was a nurse; they also had two other children. The photo won a third-honorable mention and $50 which thrilled me. In 1976 my advertising agency employer entered it in the annual photo contest of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, where it won Best Mood Depiction as well as Best Human Nature. It's the only photo I ever entered in national contests.