A kestrel from my local patch, that I have been keeping an eye on recently. Thanks for the comments on my last post. C&C welcome...
500+1.4 ISO640 1/250
Posted by Andy Stunell on July 4, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Hi Ian
my first thought is this shot is caught between being backlight with some detail still in the bird or a sillouette. Is it possible to lighten the shadows a touch to bring out a bit more detail in the body and face?
As for the framing i would like to see the Kestral more to the right of frame then crop to have either 2/3 sky or 2/3 grass.
I understand the difficulty of these in-flight shots and getting close enough to BoP to do them justice as I've been doing the same with a kestrel and some buzzards over the past three weeks - still trying in fact!
In this case I think the subject is just that bit too soft and small in the frame to have the necessary impact and lacks head detail. Frustrating isn't it but don't give up
Kestrels are a first for me and I wanted something other than the usual hover shot.
Agree with all your comments above. ISO640 and the low light wasn't really working well for me, and this is taken on the 1D2 from the car through a gap in the hedge. The bird didn't really come in close enough and the shutter speed for the overall shot isn't really high enough (well for a bird in flight anyway). I did want to bait the bird but I'm not experienced in this so in the end did not do it.
I was thinking of presenting the file as a portrait and cutting away the unnecessary space to the right of the bird, but I think the bird is too small - it works to some extent as kestrel in habitat...but as you say its still a little soft.
If I mess with highlights and shadows it tends to mess up atmosphere with the photograph so that doesn't work too well either.
To top that someone has come along and ploughed the field too, so I'm going to have to find another kestrel and have another go I think as I don't want to mess with the file...I shall use this shot as a starting point so I can benchmark it and hopefully improve in forthcoming encounters.
Discussion
8 replies500+1.4 ISO640 1/250
my first thought is this shot is caught between being backlight with some detail still in the bird or a sillouette. Is it possible to lighten the shadows a touch to bring out a bit more detail in the body and face?
As for the framing i would like to see the Kestral more to the right of frame then crop to have either 2/3 sky or 2/3 grass.
I hope that makes sense
I understand the difficulty of these in-flight shots and getting close enough to BoP to do them justice as I've been doing the same with a kestrel and some buzzards over the past three weeks - still trying in fact!
In this case I think the subject is just that bit too soft and small in the frame to have the necessary impact and lacks head detail. Frustrating isn't it but don't give up
Think what Cliffs says sums it up but it must be a bit difficult and it looks like your not far out.
Keith.
Agree with all your comments above. ISO640 and the low light wasn't really working well for me, and this is taken on the 1D2 from the car through a gap in the hedge. The bird didn't really come in close enough and the shutter speed for the overall shot isn't really high enough (well for a bird in flight anyway). I did want to bait the bird but I'm not experienced in this so in the end did not do it.
I was thinking of presenting the file as a portrait and cutting away the unnecessary space to the right of the bird, but I think the bird is too small - it works to some extent as kestrel in habitat...but as you say its still a little soft.
If I mess with highlights and shadows it tends to mess up atmosphere with the photograph so that doesn't work too well either.
To top that someone has come along and ploughed the field too, so I'm going to have to find another kestrel and have another go I think as I don't want to mess with the file...I shall use this shot as a starting point so I can benchmark it and hopefully improve in forthcoming encounters.
Thanks for you kind comments and feedback
Ian
Thanks again.
Ian
yes I also prefer the repost.