Raptor in repose

[FocalFrenzy]

Here's a shot of a Red Tailed Hawk, I took this evening. It's the first time I was able to get within 100 meters of one, without scaring it off. Needless to say, it maxxed out my zoom (12X optical, digital turned off), I used a fence post for my tripod (Used timer), so any blur is probably from the breeze or just a poor quality zoom. It was quite foggy today, although it was fairly clear at treetop level where he was. I added the fog effect in Picasa. I also tried an "Unsharp mask" in GIMP, without much success. My question is this;
Does anyone know of a method that results in good quality images taken at the furthest limit of your zoom? I realize that there were some circumstances today that could account for the poor quality, however I seem to get similar results even under good conditions. Is it just my camera? Any advice would be appreciated.:o

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21002727@N06/2289681965/" title="Hawk 002 by FocalFrenzy, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/2289681965_95eb3669bd.jpg" width="500" height="433" alt="Hawk 002" /></a>
Camera: Sony DSC-H1
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 72 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: -3/10 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Orientation: Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution: 72 dpi
Y-Resolution: 72 dpi
Software: GIMP 2.4.2
Date and Time: 2008:02:24 21:55:14

[oriolhdz]

Hi FocalFrenzy:
I will crop the photo as the blur that surrounds the bird is in my opinion too distracting, so I will try to have the less of it.
As for sharpening, have you tried High pass filter, some times it really helps. You can try in in both RBG mode or in LAB mode in the lightening channel, and see what kind of results you get.
Thanks for sharing it.

[FocalFrenzy]

As you can tell from this original shot, the quality is lacking. That's why I added the unsharp mask and fog effect. (I knew it couldn't hurt)LOL

P.S.
If GIMP has "High Pass Filters", I'm not aware of it or how to use them if they exist. Any help would be great. Thanks.


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21002727@N06/2292214440/" title="Hawk 002-1 by FocalFrenzy, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2363/2292214440_97337b1488.jpg" width="500" height="409" alt="Hawk 002-1" /></a>