Red-shoulder hawk nictitating membrane.

[robertrear]

Nictitating membranes are on of my favorite things to capture in raptors!! Red-shoulder hawks have a dullish gray which is shown very well here in this image. It does have a blue tint that was not played with at all. It was taken at a high ISO 6400 so I cleaned it up a bit other than that very little editing was done. Obviously I did crop it but not as much as you would think pretty much a full framed image with a Nikon500PF. It looks completely over edited but I still love it. I did run it through Topaz denoise which to me had a little affect on it however when I run played with the noise in Lightroom it didn't change it much at all. View attachment 54158

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[aolander]

It doesn't appeal to me. Sorry. Otherwise a nice photo.

 

[Charles Loy]

Nice image, and clearly showing the membrane

 

[BAL Land]

The photo doesn’t load for me.

 

[bajadreamer]

Full coverage of the eye by the nictitating membrane does not appeal to me. Sometimes 1/2 coverage where you can see both the cornea of the eye and the membrane can be intriguing.

 

[robertrear]

Full coverage of the eye by the nictitating membrane does not appeal to me. Sometimes 1/2 coverage where you can see both the cornea of the eye and the membrane can be intriguing.

I have a couple that are not fully covered and I agree with you.

 

[dupcak]

I have a couple that are not fully covered and I agree with you.

I just came back from a trip where I captured a BIF with 1/2 the membrane covering the eye. I was tempted to keep it since it captured that ephemeral moment but then I realized that it would probably only appeal to other photographers - "real" people probably would like a version with the clear eye. I then asked my wife and there wasn't even a split second pause before she confirmed that the clear eye version was "better". I presume biologists might like the 1/2 covered version as well (does that make them "not real" people?)

 

[robertrear]

I just came back from a trip where I captured a BIF with 1/2 the membrane covering the eye. I was tempted to keep it since it captured that ephemeral moment but then I realized that it would probably only appeal to other photographers - "real" people probably would like a version with the clear eye. I then asked my wife and there wasn't even a split second pause before she confirmed that the clear eye version was "better". I presume biologists might like the 1/2 covered version as well (does that make them "not real" people?)

I think it's pretty cool and I get why it's doesn't appeal to other people. This was the first time that I had been that close to a Red-shoulder hawk and caught several images some with the membrane half way but this one with the blue tint is unusual for me. It just looked different and I guess that's why I kinda like it.

 

[BAL Land]

Yeah, I don’t like shots where the entire eye is covered. Everything else is really nice.

 

[SonoranDesert]

It is a bit spooky...and I wouldn't necessarily buy a photo BUT...I love seeing shots of wildlife that depict their true nature and this one is one of the best I've seen. It would certainly be used in an educational setting. Well done!

 

[robertrear]

It is a bit spooky...and I wouldn't necessarily buy a photo BUT...I love seeing shots of wildlife that depict their true nature and this one is one of the best I've seen. Well done!

Thank you.