Photo'd this last week during a rare combination of free-time and sunny weather. I live near Hampstead Heath in London which is my local patch/escape route for when 'city-life' all gets a bit too much. Its surprisingly good for small raptors.
I was photographing this kestrel on a branch when it suddenly swooped down to the ground. I managed to stay with it in portrait. This was the 1 of 5 frames with all the kestrel in frame.
Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
Exposure: 1/800 sec @ F6.3 (MANUAL EXP)
ISO: 200
Lens: EF300mm F2.8ISL + 2xTC
Handheld
Great reactions, and a lovely shot. Pretty much at eye level, which is quite unusual for a Kestrel flight shot.
Do you ever bump into Bill Oddie up on The Heath?
Cheers for the feedback everyone. Yes, occassionally I bump into Bill. We share the same haunts on the heath and seemigly the same early shift.
The kestrels on the heath have an unusual habit of hunting small invertebrates on the ground. They swoop onto the paths infront of dogs and their walkers and run after them. Quite bizarre really.
What a great capture. Very dynamic shot, super sharp and nice colours. I would prefer a landscape format image so the Kestrel is flying into some space, or maybe crop to a squarer format. Minor niggle aside a great image which shows great camera handling skills on your part. It is very difficult to handhold and track a fast moving bird and get a decent frame filling shot, you have done well here.
Discussion
11 repliesPhoto'd this last week during a rare combination of free-time and sunny weather. I live near Hampstead Heath in London which is my local patch/escape route for when 'city-life' all gets a bit too much. Its surprisingly good for small raptors.
I was photographing this kestrel on a branch when it suddenly swooped down to the ground. I managed to stay with it in portrait. This was the 1 of 5 frames with all the kestrel in frame.
Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
Exposure: 1/800 sec @ F6.3 (MANUAL EXP)
ISO: 200
Lens: EF300mm F2.8ISL + 2xTC
Handheld
Regards
Really nice shot, different from the usual 'hovering' shot!
David
great action shot.
John
Aberdeen
Graeme
Do you ever bump into Bill Oddie up on The Heath?
The kestrels on the heath have an unusual habit of hunting small invertebrates on the ground. They swoop onto the paths infront of dogs and their walkers and run after them. Quite bizarre really.
What a great capture. Very dynamic shot, super sharp and nice colours. I would prefer a landscape format image so the Kestrel is flying into some space, or maybe crop to a squarer format. Minor niggle aside a great image which shows great camera handling skills on your part. It is very difficult to handhold and track a fast moving bird and get a decent frame filling shot, you have done well here.
cheers
Sean