Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, FloridaJuvenile Red-shouldered Hawk – Nikon D70, handheld, f5.6, 1/200, ISO unknown, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light, not baited, not a set up

Last week on a rainy day I reworked some older images from 2007 from when I was still photographing with my D70. This image is even older than the others I posted last week. I was only shooting in jpeg then and didn’t know how much better it was to use RAW. I’ve learned a lot since then!

This very cooperative juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was used to the people who frequented Sawgrass County Park and it would land very close to humans. It landed on a roof of a pavilion very close to where I was standing so I took the opportunity to get some close up shots.

Now, knowing how much more I can do in RAW file in ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) I could kick myself for not having switched to RAW sooner because I could have more easily salvaged some of the shots I took where my exposure wasn’t just quite right.

It’s a beautiful raptor I think. I’m glad it landed so close to me.

I’ll discuss RAW files more at a later date.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-shouldered Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.