Fantastic job of capturing this hawk in action, Jen. I don't think it could have been any better. Now if the hawk had done its job as well and caught its prey.... ...Ed

Absolutely fabulous..Exposure and detail is first class..Your best to date..R.

Seriously impressive! There is an American Eagle that lives in the woods nearby that I've been trying to get a shot of for weeks but my efforts have failed miserably. Your efforts are extremely well rewarded Jen :))) Amazing shot!

An image that has been ruined by heavy-handed manipulation. The darkening of the water was poorly done, the change between water and the shore can obviously be seen. Using a polarized filter (correctly adjusted) on the camera would have eliminated the need for having to use editing software. The filter would have also made the trees greener by eliminating the glare on the leaves.

FYI I did not darken the water. I lightened the bushes behind the bird so that it would be easier to see. It is also quite difficult to have a polarizer on a 300mm lens do its best late in the day when you are shooting bursts at a bird that isn't very close.

Wow, never seen these guys before he is beautiful

Difficult image to capture, Jen. THIS is for those above who need a refresher on How To Give A Good Review!

I understand the difficulties of capturing the image you want. Ask any photographer and they will tell you that sometimes you just can't get the shot the way you want and to try again another day.

You may want to check out this "tutorial" on retouching images

I think the stop action is very good on this one Jen.
Tigs♥ =^..^=

Given the difficult conditions, to me you've achieved the best possible result, Jen.
Refering to Tom's comment above ('try again another day', lol) I would have expected from him that he had told you how to make an apointment with this hawk for making a new capture. Such a comment is, in my opinion, not constructive and has nothing to do with the reality. Have seen a lot of really poor images on this site, so there's still a lot of work to do for him, in order to enhance the general quality of the images on this site.

Regards, Cornelius.

Super shot,,, just sayin'

Incredible shot! I'm having trouble getting a clear shot of the birds at my feeder, five feet in front of me,lol. This is breathtakingly clear and a wonderful action shot. Thanks for sharing it with us.
-Christie

This is a uniquely beautiful capture. Thank you for sharing this wonderful shot with all of us...Tom

A fantastic image and a great moment!

A Stunning photo of this Beautiful bird,Jen.

It is very hard to capture a bird in flight, I don't agree the image is ruined. Nice action shot.

It is a fantastic shot. I agree that lightening the bushes helps put the focus on the subject. I do see where the edges of the editing wasn't necessarily the best quality. Between feathers 4, 5, and 6 it looks like the auto select mistook some of the bushes for a feather. It can be seen at the highest resolution. If you are using PhotoShop, changing the background matte can highlight these types of "opps." The lightening smoothed some of the colors, so you can see the edges by the water. Perhaps a run through Neat Image would have helped, but you might have lost some fine details. But despite these MINOR difficulties, it is an capture to be proud of. (My photographer son wants to know your ratio of pictures to "keepers." He is amazed how many wonderful pictures you post.)

Doesn't look to me like you had too hard a time. You bagged it.

... you have this great bird. I know this isnot easy to capture and you cannot have always perfect quality. Thank you for sharing a great moment! I enjoy this! Mich

WOWWW!! What an amazing gift...this magnificent hawk in flight. The wing expansion, color and composition...all exquisite.

Whoa, perfectly timed, really like the way the water is coming off his feet at take off

Jen - A spectacular capture of this hawk fishing for lunch. Thad

Excellent action shot, Jen. Love the wing spread.

Jen, Your bird shots get better and better. Good capture and good work on the photo.

Victor