White-tailed Kite with Mouse

[Diane Miller]

I've posted a couple here for ID -- time to put up a real image. Shot at Ellis Creek, near Petaluma, CA (50 mi NW of San Francisco) in June. 5D Mk 3, 300mm f/2.8 + 2X (neither the latest), Wimberley head on big Gitzo legs. ISO 800, f/19 at 1/750 -- a screw-up. I was on Av and apparently bumped the aperture dial in my excitement, but at least it kept proper exposure against the sky.

Just basic processing in Lightroom 4. The crop is huge -- to less than 1/10 the original-frame area. They're hard to get close to. There was some clearing fog giving the sky a mixed white and blue color.

www.dianedmiller.com/z-bpn-ddm-03.jpg

http://www.dianedmiller.com/z-bpn-ddm-03.jpg

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

I fixed the link for your post. I used the address above, but with the http preface, and added the image tags on the ends.

Very good pose, angle in the frame towards us, the fog/clouds in background help give some depth to the image.

Well exposed. Your self critique about the crop is accurate, as the IQ has suffered from the large crop.

Cheers

Randy

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, Randy -- I'm still scratching my head about links. I'm seeing the post with just the web ink spelled out, starting with the "www" part. I tried starting and ending with the IMG tags, with the whole http thing spelled out inside, but when I go to my post I only see the link, not the image. Is it something about my system? I'm on a Mac Pro, OS 10.7 (Lion), using Safari but went to Firefox and now I see the picture, with the link spelled out above it. Strange. Guess I'll have to use FF here. Or upload the pictures to the BPN server.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Since you are a member, just download to the BPN server, much easier!

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

Hi Diane,
Welcome to BPN!
I can understand your excitement when you saw this bird and I have often screwed up my settings in the heat of the moment.
The large crop has hurt this image causing poor IQ and a lot of noise.
I like the incoming flight position and the BG sky.
Looking forward to more from you,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

All looks good here except for the IQ and noise...due to the large crop.