Just a Hawk

[jbtaylor]

Killing time while photographing a golf match. This is the a700 and the Minolta 300mm 2.8.

[bossel]

Killing time while photographing a golf match.

I can see the golfballs in the background Just kidding, great catch!!

[jbtaylor]

Yea, I know. That lens does not show great bokeh when trees are involved. Other shots seem fine. Notice the difference in the bokeh for this shot.



A bonus hawk shot for you.

[bossel]

Yes, the flower shot has an absolutely buttery bookeh Much, much better!

[aster]

Immensely impressive Jbtaylor!

It's a very handsome creature with those dark spots on whitish plumage. Especially in the second shot with one claw drawn into a 'fist' and that alert posture is very classy; the bird knows how to pose!

I actually liked the busy bokeh attained by the trees in the background, as well as the sharply-detailed texture of the branch he perched on.

So many wild creatures showing up at your private golf course and one wonders if there are other species wandering about... Your golf course is very prolific in photography material!

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[jbtaylor]

The branch looks sharp relative to the bird's head because of slow shutter speed. I did not go up to ISO 400 until halfway through the encounter. I need to be more thorough.
Here is one at ISO 400 that is much better. I just wish I could do something about the branch behind it's head.

[Dr. Harout]

Nice shots and wonderful bokeh in the flower shot.
I noticed the EXIF data are not included, would you care telling us the F stops of the hawk shots?

[jbtaylor]

In the order they were posted;

1. 750 @ F 2.8, ISO 200
2. 350 @ F 4, ISO 400
3. 500 @ F 4, ISO 400
4. 250 @ F 4, ISO 200
5. 500 @ F 4.5, ISO 400.

M primary concern was getting a shutter speed above 500 to ensure sharpness. However, I probably went too shallow on some. I hate the noise @ ISO 800. Not sure if sharpening these would help at all (although I have a hard time seeing the improvements of sharpening).

[Dr. Harout]

Thanks.
So can we conclude that whenever shooting with a background of trees a maximum aperture should be used and in other instances such as open field an f stop of even 11 could/would be fine?

[01af]

I just wish I could do something about the branch behind its head.

You mean, like this?

hawk_1.jpg (39.87 KiB) Viewed 3104 times

Hawk's head quickly masked with Photoshop's Magnetic Lasso, then cloned out the offending twigs from the background with a large, soft-edged clone stamp. This took about ten minutes.

-- Olaf

[Birma]

Lovely hawk jb (and nice edit Olaf!). I think I could get in to golf if there were raptors sitting in the trees like this all around the course. Otherwise a long walk spoiled?

[jbtaylor]

Hey Doc. How's it going?
There are plenty of conclusions to be drawn about aperture when phtographing birds. They don't sit still very long and because of it, light quality changes rapidly. However, your rule of thumb works for the most part. This next shot is a crop (if I recall correctly). The bird is more in focus but F2.8 covers the entire bird because of the increaseed DOF at that distance. I was lucky that he was pretty still while on the ground. He was only yards away from the tree but in an open area with more light. The challenge is that I am trying to max shutter speed with a big lens mounted on a monopod. Between rotating the lens from portrait to landscape, checking shutter speed, then ISO, I usually tend to miss a critical element. More practice and luck is required.
O1af,
That is exactly what I has in mind. Excellent work and it really improves the image. I need a tutorial in PP.
Birma,
Depending on where you live, there probably are many raptors on the golf courses. Golf is how I became interested in photography. Either one is a great use of my time.