Hawk at the stadium

[Bandit]

I thought the wind on this hawk looked cool.

[Mad Aussie]

The wind on the feathers do look cool.

The first shot is a nice composition. I probably would have cropped in tighter on the tail though which would have left more active (negative) space in front of him to help us follow his stare.

Could be a bit more sharp, especially the eye.

Exposure looks nice too.

Good work.

[jjeling]

I believe thats a kestrel.

[Hillbillygirl]

Not a bad shot of a hard to capture species. This is actually a Coopers Hawk. They are usually quite wary, and fly just out of range of all but longest telephoto's. Shot itself could be a bit sharper and would look so much better on a more natural perch, (but we don't get to pick where they land)

[Bandit]

I seem to struggle with sharpness. Even if I'm shooting a fast shutter I don't seem to be able to capture the sharpness that I see in other photos. It's a consistent response I get. Maybe I'm too hard on the shutter. Any suggestions or is this just something that you get in time. I don't use a tripod or monopod although I have both.
Any suggestions?

[Mad Aussie]

I seem to struggle with sharpness. Even if I'm shooting a fast shutter I don't seem to be able to capture the sharpness that I see in other photos. It's a consistent response I get. Maybe I'm too hard on the shutter. Any suggestions or is this just something that you get in time. I don't use a tripod or monopod although I have both.
Any suggestions?

At 1/1200th and 200mm you should be able to get sharpness without a tri or monopod.
Probably just a frag of movement when you hit the button. Practice will sort that.
The really sharp photos you see from others these days are usually not as they took them. The photos have usually been sharpened via photoshop or whatever.

Attaching them here reduces sharpness also if the photos is over 250kb in size so often putting them in another online album is a better idea.

[Bandit]

Thanks Aussie, I will definitely keep practiciing. Seeing shots on here has raised the bar alot for me.

[Michaelaw]

Nice shots Bandit Not too sure where the slight softness comes from as there can be many causes from glass to shooting style etc. Having said that I'll give you this tip as a hopeful solution or part thereof. When going for a long tele shot in this kind of situation I'll generally form a brace or human tripod. Grip the camera with your right hand as per usual, use the left arm as a cradle for the lens. Your left hand (after using your arm as a cradle) should be positioned directly in front of your right hand. Push your right hand into your left slightly and you'll have a fairly stable shooting platform, not a tripod by any means but a great help in avoiding shake and movement especially if you don't have OIS. Before shipping any jpeg image to the web it almost certainly should be sharpened a tad to combat compression softening IMHO The other thing I find helps is to use spot focus on these shots and nail the eye. When you have focus on that eye, re compose quickly an shoot. The other possibility is your 200mm isn't getting you in close enough and you're having to crop too tight in post. They are great shots all the same, Nice looking hawk!

[Bandit]

Thanks I will try that. I'm game for anything that might help.