D850 + Tamron 70-200 f2.8 VC G1 + Red-Shouldered Hawk
greenmanphoto
All,This morning, while waiting for the Suddenlink repairman to come fix the telephone, which went out after an intense storm LAST Sunday, I had called in to work, saying I would late. I was in the kitchen fixing a smoothie when I saw a shape glide down from either the roof or a tree in the back yard to the bird bath. I went in to grab my camera (in this case, the Nikon D850 with a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 lens) and grab some shots.Thankfully, he stayed put for quite a while, because I had to get another memory card, since the initial one already had some files on it, and I ran out of card after about 23 shots. I came back with the new memory card and shot some more. These are 9 of the 75 or so shots from the hawk first drinking, and then bathing in our bird bath!This is a juvenile Red-Shouldered hawk, probably from the nesting and mating pair that is in a neighbor's tree on the FRONT side of the house. I hear the parents ALL. THE. TIME. when I go outside! I know they had a clutch of eggs about four months or so ago, and I'm wondering if this one is from that batch, or from one of the 2017 clutches. In one of the shots, you can see the nictitating membrane over the eye!The photos turned out pretty well, IMHO, considering they were taken through a double-pane window that ins't the cleanest window around! The D850 did OUTSTANDING, IMHO, and the lens did well, too. And I would've MISSED It totally if the telephone hadn't been out! Taken in Huntsville, TX, on 12 June 2018.You can see the bird's nictitating membrane over the eye in this shot.Step gingerly and carefully into the water...Settle down a bit...And start splashing!The last two shots were both taken in portrait mode. (I probably should've gone to landscape mode, but I'm not sure which I like better.) I cropped the second-to-last shot to horizontal to show the bird as larger, but I like the water cascading down, and being able to see more of it like that, in the portrait mode.All were cropped at least a bit, as my 70-200 on the full-frame camera was just a TAD too short, still. My D500 was at the office, though, as I have to take some candid shots during some faculty training this week.As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.Sam