You never know what they are thinking because they always have such a mean look on their faces. Outstanding shot, Alex.

Fantastic angle and capture, I see he's sitting next to the Spanish Moss. I really like the way you've captured his with his 2nd foot up resting in his feathers. Way to go Alex

You did super job on this one Alex, congrats on this one.
tigs♥

Hey Alex,

I hope you don't mind me cutting to the chase in what is to follow.. as I've been noticing your images lately.

First..

Your compositions are good good and your knack for being in the right place to get a shot.. is particularly remarkable, with respect to your images of birds and animal life.


Your image here.

I almost forgot about not seeing the entire bird (with tail) in frame.. as that piercing stare and vis-a-vis your composition.. your image was strong enough to pull off that fait accompli.


Caveats.

Back to "cutting to the chase"..

Faking the HDR thing...

And then, the "I hope you don't mind part"..

Hawk eye - Highlights/Shadow Adjusted

And slightly sharpened, simply by resizing in Photoshop using the Bicubic Sharper option.


The breast feathers, or just below.. were/are a tad overexposed. By employing the 'fake hdr' editing technique.. think it mitigated that well enough and added some more 'pop' to your original by deepening tonal and colour contrasts.


I think.. that given the challenging lighting conditions you were shooting in.. a well done is definitely in order. The easiest solution would be to shoot earlier or later.. to avoid the harsher lighting conditions of the mid-day. (Well, that is.. if the birds and animals are cooperative as well.)

Or..

Not sure what camera (model/make).. what are your exposure settings? What type of metering did/do you employ?

If you were to add in the EXIF data for your images in your accompanying narratives.. might provide a leaping off point for more tips, advice, et al.

... ...

... ...

/\ Now that.. is a lot of thinking/typing out loud.

My apologies.

Just wanted to provide some creative food for thought for you.

That said..


It is a good good shot.

And one you should be proud of.. take my other drivel with a grain of salt and an open mind, as I noticed one particular photo of yours in your gallery.. that suggested you were a 'perfectionist'.

Your image caught my eye (once again), in and amongst the New Images.. brought me in for a closer look.. definitely, mission accomplished.

Thanks for sharing this one with us. :o)

Amazing capture & the focus is perfect. Very well done, Alex.

Neat and sharp shot of the bird up there on the tree. That eye is so clear and so is the bird.

Beautiful capture of the Hawk Alex.

It's observing you Alex. Think by its mean look in the eyes, that its intentions aren't good, lol.

In spite of the complex lighting here, you've achieved a good result!

Excellent shot Alex very well captured.

Great capture - this bird is beautifully marked and posing just for you Alex.

This one is really giving you the eye! Love the color of the feathers and the pose. Thanks to Les for his help with your wonderful image...I know we all want to learn more.

~Connie

A nice capture of an immature bird. Notice the pale eye and speckling on the chest. It is in the resting position with one leg up. It was not going to fly anywhere. One trick to knowing when a bird might fly is how many legs it is standing on. Also notice that its body feathers are fluffed up. A bird that is likely to fly will have its feather tight to the body and will be standing on both legs. Also there will be a lot of head movement. If a bird is preening, probably not going to go for awhile. When it stops preening and starts bobbing its head more, be ready.

Beautiful photography!