Other side of a Red Kite

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi All,

By popular demand, here is the front view of a Red Kite! This one was flying directly towards the early morning sun. Image was made in central Spain from a hide and the birds were baited.

There was a group of four Kites that spent much of the morning with us. They would swoop down and grab morsels of bait from the Marsh Harriers and Buzzards, or from each other!

I particularly like the way the light was catching him, lighting up the underside and also the tail flare and curling primaries.

I was using the Sony A9II with the FE 200-600 lens at 474mm. Shutter at 1/2500 sec, wide open at f/6.3 and ISO 4000.

Processed in LrC and PS.

Thanks for looking. Comments and suggestions warmly welcomed!

Gerald

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super capture great pose, the feet and the brightest highlights appear a little too bright to me, I feel a lowering of luminance or tonal value would render a little more detail. I like the background.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gerald ... a real corker IMHO , very well done to capturing this dynamic approach !!!
Gorgeous warm light and the concentrated look in those eyes is amazing . Lovely BG ... some might say remove the building in URC , I think it is not too distracting
I would go with Jon about toning down the very bright tones in the subject to gain detail ?!!
Maybe a touch low in the frame ... matter of taste ... if you have I would move the comp a bit downwards .

Super image and TFS Andreas

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh boy, talk about early morning light! Excellent pose too. I would agree in toning down the brightest parts here, and play with the composition a bit (e.g. less at left, more at right), but man this is a high-impact image for sure! The warm tones and super background look top notch.

[William Dickson]

As mentioned above, the light here is stunning. Personally, I would reduce the exposure slightly on the full image a wee bit. Lovey flight pose, and detail, that fanned tail looks amazing. Well done Gerald.

Will

[Brian Sump]

YES Gerald! Love seeing the right side of things here

That light is pretty much to die for IMO. Fantastic spread and serious stare.

I would consider adding some selective sharpening around the head. Was the raw file dead on around the eyes and nape?

You could also dress up the bright tones just a bit with a multiply blend mode or some slight exp adjustments (however you prefer) but overall this is a real beauty!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gerald, nice flight shot and fixed stare, but just perhaps rein in the contrast and saturation a little.

Definitely remove the white blob at 11.00o/c to the head and the two at 1.00pm.

The sharpening is 'OK' at 100%, if the browser pulls it in incorrectly it starts looking soft, just be carefull or 'Enhance' DeNoise, in Lr at ISO4000 you should be looking at around mid thirties or there about, at 12,800 is perhaps around mid 50's, but all dependent on the file.

TFS
Steve

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely frame Gerald! pose is dynamic and the light is sweet. If mine I'd tame the bright whites and apply a tad more sharpening to the subject
the habitat in the BG is pretty as well

TFS