Red-Tailed Hawk, American Robin, and Squirrel. Which one doesn't fit?

[KnightofDoom]

Just some critters around my house. I was in the parking lot near my house and heard a loud bird in the small woods by the parking lot and saw a hawk on a small nest. So I stood there looking to see what it was doing and a few seconds later an even larger hawk swooped in with a medium sized meal. So I ran inside and got my camera and when I came outside the smaller hawk had left but I got to spend some time photographing this awesome bird. It didn't pay me any attention while it was chomping away. Kind of had a nice little intimate moment in the small clearing surrounding the tree while I was admiring it below. I've seen these birds so many times around where I live but this was the first time I've been able to get close and luckily I had gotten a 55-200mm lens a few days earlier. Harass me and tell me they are horrible if they are!

 

[fotomumma09]

The second one is my favorite!

 

[K8-90]

I think both 2 & 3 could do with some cropping. In 2, crop to portrait, removing the distracting silver wire. In 3, again crop to portrait, removing most of the right part of the image.

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice images, but I do agree with Kate - some cropping is in order.

__________________
WesternGuy

 

[SCraig]

... Harass me and tell me they are horrible if they are!

Well, they aren't great!

If the subject is supposed to be the hawk in the first one you missed the focus since the bird (or what can be seen of it) is out of focus and the front edge of the nest is in focus. It's also badly underexposed and so busy the subject is barely visible at all.

The Robin is the best of the 3 and still needs some cropping. The subject covers only about 10% of the frame if that much.

The squirrel is barely visible because, again, the shot needs a great deal of cropping. The focus was missed, the front edge of the tree is in focus and the squirrel is soft. The shot is badly angled or that sidewalk is on a steep hill, and that trash can is adding nothing at all to the composition.

The "Subject" of a photograph, as the name implies, is supposed to be the main focus of a shot. Get close or crop where necessary to show the subject and not a lot of background clutter. Watch your backgrounds. What is behind, in front of, and surrounding the subject means as much to the composition as anything else and having a bunch of clutter around the subject simply detracts from the photograph.

Birds and wildlife are not easy subjects. They won't stay still and they won't do what you expect them to do. Keep at it, you'll get there.

 

[Joel_W]

Scott pretty much nailed it as to an honest CC on all three pictures.

 

[KnightofDoom]

Yea I agree. I don't usually do alot of wildlife photography and had already done of cropping on the first 2 shots. The first and last were a little hard to focus on the subject too. The reason I included so much background is because I didnt want the subject smack dab in the middle of the frame. I'll do some more tinkering when I get home. Thanks for the input guys