Kestrel Flying

[John Harper]

Hi There

Following on from my Great Grey Owl post and Lana's comments about hoping for some shots in better light, I post below shot of a Kestrel taken in December last year at one of the flying demonstrations at the Hawk Conservancy.

The shot was taken with my 1DMKIIN and my "standard" EF 500mm lens. No flash was used just a bit of sunshine and the bird flying the right way.

John

EOS1DMKIIN
EF 500mm F4L
ISO 400
1/2500 @ F4

[Lana Hays]

John
Oh momma.......this is sweet!!! It's amazing what a little natural light will do. A great wing pose to show nice detail in both the upper and lower wings and good eye contact. That eye is really sharp and detailed. I think that the whites might be a tad hot and possibly it would be helpful to lower the exposure by maybe a third in RAW conversion or you might lower the brightness and increase the contrast to make the colors pop. A beautiful image.

[David Steele]

Well done John!

[Julie Kenward]

That is one sweet image. The detail throughout the entire bird is spot on and the angle of flight is wonderful! What a beautiful photo!

[Roger Williams]

WOW! Takes my breath away.

[Jeff Hammond]

Absolutely outstanding image. This is one of the best flying kestrals I've seen! Kudos on an amazing capture.

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderfully executed. Sharp everywhere and a perfect exposure. Love the wing position.

Where are you from??? Where is the Hawk Conservancy??? Is this a Lesser Kestrel?

Thanks and later and love, artie

[Jim Poor]

Great image. It's hard enough to get a Kestrel in front of the lens, much less one in flight. Outstanding!

Artie:

I think this might be it:

http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/photoday.shtml

[John Harper]

Wonderfully executed. Sharp everywhere and a perfect exposure. Love the wing position.

Where are you from??? Where is the Hawk Conservancy??? Is this a Lesser Kestrel?

Thanks and later and love, artie

Hi Art

Thanks for taking a look, and i have to say you are one of the main reasons i got interested in this area of photography. You were kind enough to critic 10 of my images last year and gave me some hints and tips as to how to improve things and i have been bitten by the "bird bug" so to speak.

I am based in the UK and shoot mainly at the Hawk Conservancy as it is close to where i live and you are guaranteed to get birds in flight as they do flying displays with captive birds.

I just like the challenge of getting sharp shots of small birds in flight like kestrels and falcons, (kind of like shooting but you don't kill anything!). So i post some of my better efforts here in the hope of picking up some more tips from the experts .

John

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks John. I remember our phoen conversation well. Do you know the species?

Later and love and great to see you at BPN.

artie

[John Harper]

Thanks John. I remember our phoen conversation well. Do you know the species?

Later and love and great to see you at BPN.

artie

Hi Art

It would appear to be just a Common Kestrel rather than the Lesser variety.

John

[KK Hui]

A great image, John!
Love the wing position, detail and eye contact ...

[Ron Spomer]

John,
This is the kind of image we could only dream about capturing in the Kodachrome 64 film days. But even with today's cameras, high ISO speeds and digital, this remains one tough shot and you nailed it. Congrats!
Ron Spomer

[Mike Boyce]

John, in a word, PERFECT! Wish I could find something I think could be improved. I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven if I ever captured an image this beautiful. I guess that's why I joined this site, so I could learn from the best and have goals to aspire to... your Kestral image is one of my goals. Thanks!

Mike