American Kestrel II

Gallery: AvianPosted August 26, 2010118 views12 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm x 2.0TC, tripod
f5.7, 1/800, ISO200

Taken a few seconds after my post of Monday. The head turn makes the Kestrel look a bit fiercer, at least to me. I applied a bit of additional selective sharpening to the head in response to comments on the earlier post.

50% crop.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on August 26, 2010 at 1:52 AM

Good light Jim, warm and not too contrasty for the subtle colors and detail in this bird. It's a nit picky point, but I might take just a little more off the right side Jim. I don't usually favor smack center subjects, but he's floating a little in the expanse of blue sky. I realize how tough it is to approach this species unless they are totally distracted.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on August 26, 2010 at 3:39 AM

Great shot, Jim. The eye contact is really impressive !!!
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Satie Sharma on August 26, 2010 at 3:45 AM

Very nice, Jim. I like the pose and detail. Looking at the large version, I think you can crop this a bit more.

Registered on November 11, 2003, 189 Posts, 5335 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 26, 2010 at 10:05 AM

Sweet one, Jim. I do like the head turn. It's hard to make a Kestrel look fierce-they're too darn cute.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 26, 2010 at 11:03 AM

Would love to get something similar to this of a Kestrel

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on August 26, 2010 at 1:27 PM

Great shot Jim. I also like the eye.

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on August 26, 2010 at 7:54 PM

Jim, I like the leaning but almost vertical perch and the nice head turn to catch the light in the face. There's a lot of blue sky here for the size of the bird but they're notoriously difficult to approach. Unless they're on a wire, directly overhead...

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 27, 2010 at 11:03 AM

Really like the head turn on this also Jim! If it were mine, I might consider going to bit tighter on the comp. I don't think I have more than 1 images of these guys I am satisfied with...they are so hard to get close to.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on August 27, 2010 at 1:33 PM

Nice pose, eye contact and perch Jim. Also like intense blue sky.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on August 27, 2010 at 5:51 PM

nice one, Jim. I like the pose here a lot. sharpness looks better as well.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on August 27, 2010 at 9:46 PM

Great color and eye contact on the little beauty, Jim. Would love to get my hands on a 300mm to give it a shot around here.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 29, 2010 at 11:11 AM

Very nice Jim.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments