Randy Bell
About the Image(s)
I went to a wildlife reserve that is about an hour's drive from my home about a week or so ago.
This was my first time to this location and there are many species of birds at this reserve. This
bird, which I believe to be a red-tailed hawk, was just sitting on this post as I drove by. He
looked at me but did not seem to be in any hurry to leave, so I grabbed a number of shots of
him.
This was the first time I photographed birds in this kind of a setting and it seems many of my
photos this day were on the soft side. I am not sure whether that softness of the photos was
due to the equipment I was using or if it was due to something I was or wasn't doing with my
technique or camera settings. I thought the hawk in this photo was reasonably sharp and
thought I would get your opinions or suggestions on it. I did bring a tripod, but did not use it. A
longer lens would definitely be helpful (new toy idea for myself??) as I had to do a lot of
cropping. Overall, regardless of how the photos turned out, it was a fun day and I plan to visit
there again.
I shot this with my Fuji camera with a 55-200mm lens at 200mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec at ISO 200. I
edited the photo in Affinity Photo which mainly consisted of cropping, contrast and color
adjustments. I also removed a metal pole that was distracting.
2 comments posted
I tend to shoot birds wide open, which can lead to a softer body then I like.   Posted: 02/09/2025 23:19:20