He's back - Red Kites

It has been too long since I have been able to post, so I thought I would share this image of two Red Kites captured in January in sunny central Spain.

The Kites were roosting in the branches then swooping down to steal food from other raptors feeding on the bait, or from each other! I particularly liked the back view of the landing Kite and the welcome that he has received from the other!

The shot was taken with my trusty Sony A9 II with the FE 200-600mm at 376mm. Shutter speed was 1/2000 sec at f/6.3, ISO 12800.

I have been experimenting with my LrC workflow and trying to avoid going into PS for sharpening, so I will be welcoming all feedback.

Thanks, Gerald

Welcome back mate. Nice image. Different and I like it. Beautiful birds and you show them well. I really like the incoming flight pose. I think you could sharpen both birds a wee bit. IMO it would enhance the frame. ISO 12800 in sunny Spain, who would have thought.
BTW Gerald, I never went to Spain, because of health issues, I went to the Isle of Mull instead.

Will

Super colours and details, interesting poses.
Regards the sharpening Gerald I think you will be missing some good enhancememt opportunities if you don't add some sharpening in PSCC, there are so many different things you can do there that are not present in LrC.

PP looks good to me...I just don't find anything compelling about this image. The back of one bird and barely the face of the other.

Hi Gerald ... good to see you posting again !!
Lovely warm light and the tones are looking good , as does the colors . Sadly the interaction or the subjects facing away ( more or less ) are not grabbing my attention , sorry Gerald.
Why are you trying to avoid PS ???

TFS Andreas

Gerald, I believe this would be a very striking image if the subject at left were coming vs landing away.

Unfortunately it wouldn't be a keeper for me.

PS - I would love to shoot Red Kites. Will has some brilliant frames of these guys.

Hi All,

Many thanks for the comments and feedback. I like to inject something different when I can, even when it is not to everybody's taste!

The Red Kites are beautiful birds and I do like the back view with the topside of the beautifully patterned wings. I like the less than welcoming response from the other Kite as it tells a story about the moment rather than just showing a bird.

I'll keep trying!