Nature Sparrow Hawk ???

Sparrow Hawk ??? · 04:30 PM

caught this Sparrow Hawk ??? or maybe juvienille "Brown Falcon" or "Brown Goshawk" -if anyone knows?, he/she was about 30cm (1ft) head to tip of tail.
anyone got any shooting tips when the subject is siloetted against a cloudy but bright background sky ( apart from the obvious better lens) I had to lift the exposure quite a bit in PP to get any detail on the Hawk.

deaning · 08-19-2012, 04:44 PM

Certainly looks like a cross between a sparrow and a hawk, I have never seen one of these before, nice captures, love the evil glint in the eye of #2.

slowpez · 08-20-2012, 05:23 AM

Like the second one the best. I can't tell one hawk from another but someone will know.

oeriies · 08-20-2012, 06:11 AM

I'm pretty good with North American hawk ID, but if you're in Melbourne, Australia I don't have a clue.

Two PP tricks I've found for the shooting conditions you've described are, first, to try the HDR toning feature under image adjustment (PowerPoint 6.0). The default result will be unusable, but if you play around with the sliders sometimes you can bring back detail in the shadows that would otherwise be lost while giving more tint and saturation to the sky. The second trick is to use Replace Color under the image adjustment to turn the sky into a shade of blue and then use the Exposure/Contrast control to bring out the shadows on the bird. The NIK software Vivesa plugin is great for this because it has a brush function that allows you to apply the correction where you need it. It also helps when shooting birds to have the camera set to center point for both exposure and focus -- it is easier to correct the background in postprocessing than the bird.

Russ

**Bob Harris** · 08-20-2012, 06:32 AM

thanks CC for the thread and Russ for the information.

**Cee Cee** · 08-20-2012, 08:42 PM

hey, thanks for your comments and the input guys. Thanks for the suggestions Russ, your point about exposure mode should help as I was using center weighted. Some things to think about in PP, I'll give these a try.
Cheers
CC.

deaning · 08-21-2012, 04:37 PM

Originally posted by oeriies

The NIK software Vivesa plugin is great for this because it has a brush function that allows you to apply the correction where you need it.

This is a fantastic plugin, I used to do wallpapers for a site and every pic would go into viveza before anything else as it allows to select and group control points with fantastic control. Nik Software, Inc. | Viveza 2

**Cee Cee** · 08-21-2012, 08:34 PM

thanks for the link, the software does look good, unfortunately I don't use Photoshop or lightroom, ( GIMP) although looking at Viveza has got me thinking maybe I should.
cheers
CC.

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08-19-2012, 04:44 PM	#2
deaning Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 737	Certainly looks like a cross between a sparrow and a hawk, I have never seen one of these before, nice captures, love the evil glint in the eye of #2.

08-20-2012, 05:23 AM	#3
slowpez Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 18,461	Like the second one the best. I can't tell one hawk from another but someone will know.

08-20-2012, 06:11 AM	#4
oeriies Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 121	I'm pretty good with North American hawk ID, but if you're in Melbourne, Australia I don't have a clue. Two PP tricks I've found for the shooting conditions you've described are, first, to try the HDR toning feature under image adjustment (PowerPoint 6.0). The default result will be unusable, but if you play around with the sliders sometimes you can bring back detail in the shadows that would otherwise be lost while giving more tint and saturation to the sky. The second trick is to use Replace Color under the image adjustment to turn the sky into a shade of blue and then use the Exposure/Contrast control to bring out the shadows on the bird. The NIK software Vivesa plugin is great for this because it has a brush function that allows you to apply the correction where you need it. It also helps when shooting birds to have the camera set to center point for both exposure and focus -- it is easier to correct the background in postprocessing than the bird. Russ

08-20-2012, 06:32 AM	#5
Bob Harris Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Canon City, Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,477	thanks CC for the thread and Russ for the information.

08-20-2012, 08:42 PM	#6
Cee Cee Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Glenroy, Melbourne Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,441 Original Poster	hey, thanks for your comments and the input guys. Thanks for the suggestions Russ, your point about exposure mode should help as I was using center weighted. Some things to think about in PP, I'll give these a try. Cheers CC.

08-21-2012, 04:37 PM	#7
deaning Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 737	Originally posted by oeriies The NIK software Vivesa plugin is great for this because it has a brush function that allows you to apply the correction where you need it. This is a fantastic plugin, I used to do wallpapers for a site and every pic would go into viveza before anything else as it allows to select and group control points with fantastic control. Nik Software, Inc. \| Viveza 2

08-21-2012, 08:34 PM	#8
Cee Cee Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Glenroy, Melbourne Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,441 Original Poster	thanks for the link, the software does look good, unfortunately I don't use Photoshop or lightroom, ( GIMP) although looking at Viveza has got me thinking maybe I should. cheers CC.