# so lucky



## Raymond J Barlow (Sep 24, 2005)

Driving on a service road, beside our major highway.. the QEW, I happened to have my senses about me, and saw this hawk on a lamp post.  I follow it around for about 30 mins, and was able to get to about 18 ft from him at one point., it really was a dream come true.. I hope some day I get good enough at PS to edit these shots properly, but for now, here they are.. and also a couple from some hiking with Daisy.

1






2





3





4 (edited)





5





6





Thanks for looking!


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## LaFoto (Sep 24, 2005)

Well. YES! 
They are a dream come true. I believe this!
Beautiful! 
Myself, I would be thoroughly happy with these as they are, but since you have learnt a new skill or are learning it, your eyes must have changed along with it.


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## Canoncan (Sep 24, 2005)

Raymond these are just killer. Well done man!


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## John E. (Sep 24, 2005)

Congrads, so sweet capturing these animals in the wild, or urban setting. A trophy for sure. Good shots :thumbup:


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## malachite (Sep 24, 2005)

Raymond J Barlow said:
			
		

> I hope some day I get good enough at PS to edit these shots properly


Over sharpen a bit but good pics to begin with. That hawk was a rescue of some sort at one time or either a pet that was trained to hunt as indicated by the ID band around it's leg; pretty neat.......


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## doenoe (Sep 24, 2005)

another thread with great pictures. How do you do it. Those hawk pics are wicked.
btw, what happened to its chest on the 4th pic?


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## M @ k o (Sep 24, 2005)

Nice series of shot here Raymond. That butterfly one is awesome, great job on the focus.


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## JonK (Sep 24, 2005)

Your patience paid off raymond. some beauties here. 

I've been trying to capture some decent hawk photos like yours for some time now; they can be stubborn about flying off just as you get close enough for the shot!


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## pursuer (Sep 24, 2005)

Beautiful... Very well done. But as you pointed out the PSing needs some work, especially the first and fourth. It looks like you were trying to fix an area where the chest was blown out in the fourth shot and either oversharpened or went overboard with the shadow/highlight tool in the first. I would rather see the origionals with a few little flaws then see botched postprocessing, but thats just my two cents. 

Again, beautiful captures


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## Raymond J Barlow (Sep 24, 2005)

thanks everyone, ya i messed up the forth one bad,.. i will have another go at it tonight, and see how it comes out.

EDIT

ok, I reduced the damage a bit, hope they look more real, learned my lesson today!  1 and 4 are updated, 2 and 3 still need some work.

malachite  many bird around here are tagged by conservation authorities, and it is very cool., I would say this one must have had some good human experiances, and it was very comfortable with me around., as it would turn its head completely away from me while i was less then 20' away.

thanks again everyone.


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## Randog (Sep 25, 2005)

Hey Raymond sorry I missed these. You have some great shots here and your shots are always wonderful I love your work! But as youre learning Photoshop please remember that Photoshop is just a tool and most of your photos that have seen need no editing because you're just plain great at photography. Photoshop can save photo's that don't make the grade or enhance photos to another level. But first and foremost we must have a good photo to start with and you always do!


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## Mansi (Sep 25, 2005)

WOW shots Raymond! 3 , 5 and 6 would be my fave... your patience sure did pay off.. neat captures of the hawk...
love the bokeh in the butterfly shot.. and the red of the flower is amazing!
nice stuff raymond :mrgreen:


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## Raymond J Barlow (Sep 26, 2005)

thanks Randog , very nice of you to say.. I am sure I will be more carfull of my PS edits in the future, it is fun learning.  I will keep at it, and we have a long winter coming, where time will be available to mess around.

Thanks Mansi, It was a real thrill to get so close to this wild creature., I missed a chance a month ago, when I saw one having lunch on a hay bail near the road, but i didn't have my cam.. It would have been sweet!  o well, live and learn!


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## Chiller (Sep 27, 2005)

Awesome shots as always Raymond.   The butterfly pic is just killer.  WOW!!!!  I found that I got addicted to photoshop for a bit, and almost edited every picture I took, till I finally had to stop.   I went too far with it.  But you have got this stuff down buddy.   Very well done.


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## JonMikal (Sep 27, 2005)

ok, i'm heading your way...you can teach me the art of photography :thumbup: 

these are all awesome shots Raymond. what lens did you use on the hawk?


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## Raymond J Barlow (Sep 27, 2005)

Thanks so much Jon and Chiller, coming from you guys, these are very cool comments, and I am truly honored.  Jon, you are welcome here any time, i am sure Airic, Canoncan, and Chiller would love to meet you., and we have lots of room here.

I used my 70-300 Nikon, I am just finishing an edit on the 3rd shot., I will do a new thread I think.


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