Taking photos of birds in the field can be very opportunity driven. You can spend a lot of time trying to get closer to your subject for a good shot and then it moves on. I was graced by this Cooper's hawk in my own yard for this shot! An area resident that has appeared before but is wary of being watched.
I processed the image with Adobe Camera Raw then used Photoshop to remove a major distraction in the background. I used Nik software to enhance the eye and overall color. I like to think the final effect is what the other birds in the yard are seeing...and then fly off quickly.
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