Kestrel Hunting

[Loi Nguyen]

After half a dozen failed attempts, I finally got a shot of a Kestrel hunting. This shot was taken about 1/2 hour before sunset today.

1DX
500f4 II
1/4000
f4
ISO-800
Handheld
Manual exposure
Central expand with 8 surround points

The background is a bit clutter and dark, but I was worried that I would blow the whites on the bird wings. cropped to about 20% of the original frame.

Appreciate your comments.

Thank you

Loi

[Grace Scalzo]

A difficult bird to image, Loi, as they are so small and fast. I immediately knew that this was a large crop as the quality is degraded, note how there is no detail in the feathers. The prey item is nice, the field, not so much. What I would do if I were you is to try and find a way to get closer.

[arash_hazeghi]

it's a very dynamic pose and nice light but I agree it looks a bit soft from the big crop.

[supreet.sahoo]

Looks like a big crop and the IQ has suffered quite a bit. Having said that the light looks magical and the flight pose is captured really well. Thanks for sharing ...

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Loi,

A very nice and dynamic pose. The light in this shot is wonderful, and I hope you have more chances to make it out there to give it another go.

If you can, I would take a soft (0% hardness) brush at 5-10% opacity and paint in a light brown from the background onto the background. All in a separate blank layer. Hope that makes sense. I think it would even it out a bit.

Miguel

[Rachel Hollander]

Nice flight pose and light but I agree with the others, unfortunately the large crop has hurt the IQ.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Dear All, Thank you for your comments and suggestions Will need to try to get closer and focus faster and need some luck too.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congrats on a nice pose, light and prey item, but as others have mentioned the big crop hurts the image. It is a good starting point and you will only get better opportunities...keep at it!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

If this had been against a smooth BG(or sky), then with sharpening you could have made it work better. However, this situation is not ideal for a big crop. nice pose, catch and wing position.