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RedTailed Hawk lookimg for a meal
RedTailed Hawk lookimg for a meal
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Apr, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken from the 35th floor balcony of the Stonehenge apartment building in North Bergen, NJ, U.S.A. The background is the Hudson River, and what you can't see is the financial district of Manhattan, NY just beyond the water. This Red-tailed Hawk is a local in the Palisades cliffs of North Bergen, and was actually over land looking for the next meal. The Stonehenge is in it's territory, which is only a range of about 1-2 miles. Shortly after this shot was taken, this raptor and it's mate raised two baby hawks in the cliffs, which we have also enjoyed watching over the months.Time
I love this shot of the Red-tailed Hawk - he was riding the thermals late afternoon on April 10, 2021. It had to be about 4:30 pm, so the sun was low enough in the sky in the spring to give good lighting.Lighting
The raptor had just made a turn back toward the cliffs, so the sun was hitting him broadside, giving him full light coverage across the span of his wings and tail. Since I was slightly above him, and the water was in my camera shot behind him, it gave me a beautiful blank canvas for which to feature his stunning colors!Equipment
This shot was taken, handheld, with my Canon 80D camera and Canon 100-400 mm lens. The lens was fully extended to 400 mm. ISO 200, f 5.6, 1/500 sec.Inspiration
I'm a birder - I love everything about them, and whenever I see something flying out the window, I grab my camera and run to the balcony. This was right around the time the hawks should have been nesting, so they were rather active and staying close to the home. In fact, they may have already been on eggs. We were getting frequent flybys as they looked for food. I just can't resist taking pix of these beauties in action!Editing
I just did my usual post processing. The picture is cropped, as this bird was further away than I would have liked, and minor adjustments were made for light and color.In my camera bag
I always carry two cameras - my Canon 80D and my Canon 5D - the original - no Mark anything! These are my two go-to cameras and they serve a purpose with the lenses that are usually strapped to them. With my 80D, I keep the 100-400 mm lens attached. That's my fast camera to take action shots of the birds and anything at a distance. With my 5D, I keep the 28-300 mm lens on for anything slower, within that range, and especially macro shots w/o the macro lens. I have macro lenses and a 35 mm lens, but I don't tend to carry them with me on the go. Oh - and plenty of batteries for both cameras!Feedback
My action shots tend to be more luck than planning - and willingness to drop everything when an opportunity presents itself. I guess the best advice in these situations that I could possibly give is, take lots of shots and in the excitement of the moment, try to remember your camera settings! My 1st few shots tend to be - shoot first, think later. Once I gather myself after those 1st few shots, I realize my settings are all wrong an I need to adjust before I lose the moment completely. Shooting moving objects is not very forgiving, so the overwhelming emotions can leave you with a great memory, but no picture proof. Been there, done that many times! Remember your settings. Action shots need a higher speed, so focus on that when your brain catches up to what you're doing.
