I got out for a photo walk in the recent snow at Spring Canyon Park on the West Side of Ft Collins. Quiet, peaceful. This Kestrel was at the top of a Russian Olive and I waited until he leaped of the branch.
I always forget that the snow provides you with a spectacular light reflector.
Here is the Kestrel before he took off from the branch. My focus was sharper the moment before he leapt towards me; I've got some larnin' to do with continuous auto focus. I'm using a Pentax K5 with an older 300 F f/4.5 lens, which it doesn't get sharp until stopped down a little. The extra bounce light from the snow gives me more exposure latitude so I can get good depth of field with fast shutter speed.
I find that ISO 800 or higher is often necessary for bird shots.
I also had to use the focus adjust feature on the camera for this lens. I was getting front focus before adjusting.
I've been wanting a good picture of a kestrel, but they are so small and fast, I've never had the chance. This was 300mm on an APS sized crop frame, FF would be 450mm equivalent. I had to crop the frame to about 1/4 of the image. Fortunately, the K5 and 300 f/4.5 combination is a light-weight package.
I do not think I have seen a kestral out in the wild. That small hawk has some nice plummage. It was hard to decide my image preference, but the more active in-flight image prevailed. Possibly lighten the area around the eye. In the second, had you considered cloning out the oof twigs?
Good catch! What a beautiful bird!
I'm partial to #1, and with both you might consider selecting the eye and seeing if you can tease a small catchlight out of them.
Thanks guys. I agree with the need to eliminate the blurry branches; meant to do it before posting.
The eyes do need a catch-light.
I'm just thrilled I was able to find a Kestrel close enough for a good shot, and that I had such nice reflected light. That is a small bird, and 300mm is not-quite-super-tele, even on a crop-sensor camera.
Discussion
6 repliesI always forget that the snow provides you with a spectacular light reflector.
I find that ISO 800 or higher is often necessary for bird shots.
I also had to use the focus adjust feature on the camera for this lens. I was getting front focus before adjusting.
I've been wanting a good picture of a kestrel, but they are so small and fast, I've never had the chance. This was 300mm on an APS sized crop frame, FF would be 450mm equivalent. I had to crop the frame to about 1/4 of the image. Fortunately, the K5 and 300 f/4.5 combination is a light-weight package.
I'm partial to #1, and with both you might consider selecting the eye and seeing if you can tease a small catchlight out of them.
The eyes do need a catch-light.
I'm just thrilled I was able to find a Kestrel close enough for a good shot, and that I had such nice reflected light. That is a small bird, and 300mm is not-quite-super-tele, even on a crop-sensor camera.