I looked out my window and this guy was just sitting on my deck and there was this Free Study speed challenge and he was still there when I came back with the camera and ... well, what's a girl to do? Can't let an opportunity like that go by, even if it does mean I'm entering yet another flying thing in a FS. It was just so cool to have this wild creature basically pose!! I liked quite a few of the shots but chose this one because he was looking at me and the highlights in the background behind his head were really nice, almost like a halo.
I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, but I am not a bird expert.
Photo taken through a glass door with the big lens and the teleconverter; didn't think he'd stay put if I went outside. Actually, I'm stunned he let me stand as close as I was ;-)
PP - converted from RAW, cropped, levels, dodged eye slightly and cloned out odd highlight, dodged/burnt feathers a bit to compensate for glass reflections, increased contrast, created 2nd layer and blurred background, merged, added border, resized, sharpened, reduced noise overall and with brush along edges of bird
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Great clarity and I especially like the highlight around the top side of the head. It's as if this were a professional portrait session for Heady Hawk!
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