Red-Tailed Hawk and Ring Necked Pheasant

[mstrozewski]

Today I took a drive to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. I was hoping to photograph the Barn Owl that's been seen, but no luck on that end. Instead I got lucky and photographed a Ring Necked Pheasant and a Red-Tailed Hawk. All in all I'd say today wasn't too bad.

[Digital]

Mavourneen, nice photos.



Bruce

[Brownbear]

Mavoureen, truly exquisite images...

May I ask how you approached photographing the ring-necked pheasant with such perfect exposure?

[Wavelength]

Very interesting images in a different back grounds

Regards

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[stronics]

Very nice capture, used to see pheasants all the time in our area (Ohio). Now it is rare to see one.
Great shots,
David

[Dave Humphries]

Very nice captures Mavourneen,

I would, if they were mine, do a little selective cloning on each to 'improve' them by removal of competing sharp and/or inappropriately placed things.

e.g.
in #1; I would shorten a couple of the branch ends that 'touch'/go behind, the body of the hawk
in #2; I would remove the triplet of thistle heads in front of the bird's neck/chest and also the grass stem that passes in front of the neck and appears above the head and goes to the top edge of frame

I don't believe those suggestions significantly remove important context/surroundings from the images.

However, I accept that many people, perhaps yourself included, like to get nature captures as best they can in camera, and stop there (especially in respect of cloning).

As Christina has commented; great exposures.

Well done, - maybe you'll get the owl 'next time'

[jamn4ex]

What a treat. Are the pheasants common in Utah?

[mstrozewski]

I was driving along the road and spotted a group of them; stopped my vehicle so I wouldn't scare them, then noticed a pair right next to the car foraging in the weeds. The female took off with the others but this one stuck around for a few minutes before heading their direction. It was mid-afternoon, sun shining; there was several shots where it was facing away from the sun, those didn't turn out; so this is the only shot, with him facing the sun. It's not difficult to get a good exposure when you get the subject in the right light and have your settings set correctly.

[mstrozewski]

Yes, they are. They are all over the valley around salt lake city, probably up to Idaho; Our area is the great salt lake and a lot of wetlands with large brush perfect for them to hide around in.

[mstrozewski]

I try to get the best shot that I can with the subject and limited time I have to work with it. Unfortunately some shots don't turn out to be the cliche, perfect without any distracting elements. e.g....totally clear background in this one. I do enjoy photographing them in their habitat as they are; and I'll be honest I don't do a lot of cloning or removing objects in images; I did that when I took portraits; but I enjoy the challenge of trying to perfect a natural image of wildlife. I appreciate your critique though.

[NorthernFocus]

Both nicely done. Conventional wisdom is to avoid bright BG but IMO white is the exception. I like the white BG in both of these because there is enough stuff to give them context. A bit of cleanup on the pheasant and it would really be an awesome shot. Techs nicely handled in any case.