Piers Blackett  

Hawk with catch by Piers Blackett

March 2025 - Hawk with catch

March 2025 - Piers Blackett

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About the Image(s)

It was late in the afternoon when I spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk near Prairie Dog Point on the west shore of Lake Hefner within the city limits. It was in fairly dense bushes and therefore difficult to find focus - but it decided to take off and perch about fifty yards away on a high branch and then look down into dense grass with intesity. The take-off was a rapid downward swoop followed by flapping wings in the tall grass below the tree mostly concealed from view, and then, with luck, returned to the same perch with prey, a mouse which by then appeared to have succumbed to the rough treatment. At that point with a clear view and sun behind me I was able to get in a burst at 20 fps focusing on the eyes and mouse in the same plane. There were almost no edits except for cropping. My settings using a Canon R5 with a 100-500mm lens were 343mm, f/10, 1/3200sec, ISO 2500

8 comments posted

Jim Wulpi   Jim Wulpi
Great luck, Piers.
I've quickly gotten to love the Red Shouldered hawks since taking on seasonal residence in SW Florida. They are the most prevalent hawk in this region. So fortunate you were able to spend the time watching this beauty and viewing it's lunge to catch a meal.
The image certainly tells a story. I can tell from your high shutter speed that you would have loved to have caught the hawk in flight, but that same shutter speed also worked well for the (relative) stationary scene you captured.
The bane of bird photography is sticks and branches that interfere with a clean, uncluttered image, but we have to take what we can get.
This is a wonderful capture. Well done.   Posted: 03/04/2025 20:17:13
Piers Blackett   Piers Blackett
Thanks. Red-tailed Hawks are more common here, so it was good to see one.
I meant to say that I did denoise, but routinely drop all the raw images from the day into DXO PR and find them denoised an hour later in a separate file. I seldom need to add some denoising in photoshop. In this case no problem at ISO of 2500.   Posted: 03/05/2025 10:12:32
Stanley Cheong   Stanley Cheong
This photo successfully captures the Hawk's natural state through precise focus control, use of natural light, and background processing, showing its majesty and power. This photo is a natural photography, which can well convey the photographer's love of nature.

I have a suggestion to use photo editing software to brighten up the Hawk's eyes to make it look more vibrant.   Posted: 03/07/2025 05:50:58
Piers Blackett   Piers Blackett
Thanks for your suggestions. I have also cropped and reduced exposure of the sky and branch to bring out the main topic of the hawk and mouse.   Posted: 03/07/2025 09:06:01
Comment Image
Shirley Pohlman   Shirley Pohlman
The story of the survival of the fittest. Since we live in the woods, at night I often hear the squeals of some animal being destined for a meal. You were lucky to be able to catch this in action. I like the intensity of your second crop. Certainly tells a story!   Posted: 03/08/2025 16:00:35
Piers Blackett   Piers Blackett
Thanks for your comments on emotion in nature. I think nature photos can have story as well as inherent composition making the crop and lighting important but second to story. Perhaps an overlapping circle or Venn effect contributes to impact but where the "story" circle is dominant.   Posted: 03/08/2025 17:24:31
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Great capture of a magnificent bird. I, too, have lots of red shoulder hawks in my yard. Their behavior is so fascinating to watch. You managed to get him tack sharp that reveals super details of the bird and its prey. The backgrounds are generally a problem when shooting wild life, but you managed a great image with the close crop. Nicely done, Piers!   Posted: 03/11/2025 13:20:48
Martin Newland   Martin Newland
A wonderful Nature photo, Piers. It is tack sharp and I like your cropping and composition. It is good to see the bird with it's prey and not just sitting in the tree.
Well done   Posted: 03/16/2025 22:48:34

 

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