Lessons Learned: Poor composition

The following photo shows a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) spotted at Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

This image is SO CLOSE to being a good photograph! If the tip of the hawk’s right wing weren’t clipped at the upper edge of the photo, then the composition would be improved greatly. I tried to track the bird in flight by looking at the LCD on the back of the camera. I thought it would be easier to look at the larger image provided by the 3″ LCD rather than looking through the camera’s electronic viewfinder. The take-away from this very frustrating experience: It’s easier to track moving objects by looking through the camera viewfinder, especially at telephoto focal lengths.

Tech Tips: I shot the photo using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 superzoom camera in Shutter Priority Mode with a focal length of 108mm (600mm, 35mm equivalent). I selected a shutter speed of 1/2,000 second to stop action (bird in flight); the camera automatically selected an ISO of 100 and an aperture of f/5.2.

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Red-shouldered Hawk

A Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) shown by Kent Knowles, president of The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. This “teaching bird” has several disabilities that make it unsuitable for release to the wild: the hawk was hit by a car, fracturing its right wing through the elbow joint; the bird has almost no wing extension on its right side as a result.

The hawk was one of several birds featured in a raptor demonstration at the Belle Haven picnic area, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. According to Mr. Knowles, …

There is no way to tell a Red-shouldered male from a female by sight or weight. Since this one is relatively small I would guess it is a male, but that is only a guess. It is a third-year bird.

The event was hosted by Friends of Dyke Marsh, National Park Service, and The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. Mr. Knowles’ extraordinary rapport with raptors is clearly evident in the following photos!

Ms. Gabby Hrycyshyn, assisting Mr. Knowles with the raptor demonstration, is shown holding an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) in Photo 6 of 7 in the preceding gallery. The kestrel is featured in a follow-up post: American Kestrel (male).

Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Red-shouldered Hawks (nesting pair)

A nesting pair of Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) was spotted during a photowalk through Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. One of the individuals was carrying nesting material in its talons.

Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Editor’s Note: As you can see, Posterous is still up-and-running one week after it was acquired by Twitter. The future of Posterous remains uncertain nonetheless. After considering the options to move my photoblog to another venue, I have decided to resume photoblogging on Posterous. Long live Posterous!