I photographed this bird today with a D70 and Nikon 75-300 and Tamron 1.4 SP teleconverter, handheld at ISO 1600. I used neatiamge to cut the grain a little and photoshop elements to sharpen it and adjus the contrast. THis was the first itme I've seen and photographed one of these raptors.

Lava Lamp,

I love the coposition of this image! I would like to see some more detail under the bird though.

Michael

I photographed this bird today with a D70 and Nikon 75-300 and Tamron 1.4 SP teleconverter, handheld at ISO 1600. I used neatiamge to cut the grain a little and photoshop elements to sharpen it and adjus the contrast. THis was the first itme I've seen and photographed one of these raptors.
Nice catch. I like the position of the bird and the light coming through the feathers. I agree that I'd like to see better exposure of the body of the bird. This shot for posting seems a bit over sharpened. I've never taken a bird shot even remotely as good as this, I envy your steady hands, good eye, and good gear.

WELCOME to the reason I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS....RAPTORS ARE MY FAVORITE!

You did a great job at exposing for the sky, yet getting some detail in the RS hawk.

wing blur is typical , as I am sure you weren't at f11 and 1/1000th ;)

the only way in this situation to get a properly exposed belly on the hawk would be flash...... THAT ISN'T EASY due to distance and SS !

I try to BLOW OUT the sky by exposing for the bird usually...... +1.3ev is a good start ;)