Kestrel take-off

[gail bisson]

From Dave's special spot in SoCal.Not baited or lured.
Canon 1 DX 600 mm and 1.4 x
ISO 800 SS 1/4000 F 6.3
Crop from horizontal to full frame vertical. Usual LR sliders, cleaned up the perch, dust spot removed,sharpened head twice, NR to BG.
If you look closely at the birds right wing you will see that this little lady has trouble with feather mites. Her feathers are pretty beat up.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Joseph Przybyla]

Good work, lovely flight image. Image capture well timed, beautiful bird nicely shown, perfect background. Thank you for sharing, Gail.

[Bill Dix]

Oh to have been in that special spot. Wonderful image; great timing, good flight angle, background, light. Well done, Gail.

[Mike Poole]

Another killer frame from th trip Gail - and I have an inkling there will be more to come!

Whats not to like? Dynamic take off pose, superb light both on the bird and the complementary BG colours, simply a lovely shot

Mike

[annmpacheco]

Standing ovation!!! crowd cheer!!! THE WAVE!!!! So this is what we all dream of, and its a real beauty! Processing looks terrific and I love the eye contact... Just wonderful and so happy you nailed it!

[Isaac Grant]

Looks like there was a new sheriff in town in southern California :w3 Gail you totally rocked this one. David told me about it he was so excited that you got this frame. This is about as perfect as it gets. Lovely tones, feather details and set off against a killer background. Plus that killer blast off pose. Let me beat David to the punch on this one. You might consider printing this one!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. No other words needed. I love it! Well done!

The upper primary pattern reminded me of our local Brown Falcon. Here is a link to a friend's image. Check out the resemblance. https://kimberleyjanepryor.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/blog_bw14a_img_4540.jpg (https://kimberleyjanepryor.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/bird-of-the-week-brown-falcon-falco-berigora/)

[John Mack]

Very nice. Love that two toned background. The pose and light are great. Sounds like you guys had a blast.

[William Dickson]

Very well done Gail. The BG colours show the bird real good and I like the take off pose. Great HA and eye contact. The perch, and the position of the bird leaving the perch is spot on. Probably one of the best images, I have seen from you on here recently .

Nice work

Will

[Juan Tolentino]

Absolutely gorgeous Gail. Really, really nice. Beautiful Lady. Thank you for sharing.

[David Salem]

You know I don't have to say much more about this shot except "Rock Star"!! Ok, Issac beat me to it but I did mention it to when you were here. One of your better images for sure. Got to be proud of that one!

[Jay Ing]

Main thing I don't like about this shot is that I didn't take it! I am particularly fond of the serrate edge on that vertical wing. Looks like that trip was epic.

[arash_hazeghi]

This is one of those drooling shots, love the dynamic pose, sharp details and of course the light is in the perfect position, something many folks overlook. In a perfect world the BG would be all golden but I know it is not possible at every single perch at this location. good choice of shutter speed

TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, well timed for the take off, and I like the show of the near wing. Love the light and IQ in this, sharp, and the two one BG works well.