Full crop

[Ian McLachlan]

This female Nankeen Kestrel has just consumed a quite large long tailed gecko as we can see ,provided by her mate. Evening light was quite nice and the background is sand and scrub in outback Aus. last southern spring. They managed to successfully produce 3 young. I was not sure whether to do anything about the shadow so I left it.



174734

1DX
600 ii +1.4
iso 1600
1/5000th
HH
25% crop
All C&C's very welcome

[Glenn Pure]

This is pretty nice. Great flight pose with those outstretched wings and excellent background. Detail looks pretty good but may be starting to drop off just a fraction around the head? Maybe a little more sharpening there? Always nice to see another Australian image too!

[Arthur Morris]

Love the handsome bird and the BKGR. Sharpest focus looks to be on the near edge of the far wing, just past the head. With the light well from our right the right side of the bird's head is shaded. Did you try opening it up (lightening it)? EXP looks good.

with love, artie

[gail bisson]

I like the flared primaries and the flight pose.
It is too bad the light was from the right, thus shading the face.
I would leave the shadow on trunk as is.
Love the BG colors,
Gail

[John Mack]

Great take off pose here. Like the crop and the light.

[Ian McLachlan]

Yes Idid lighten the head a bit Artie but will have another go at it with a touch more sharpening as Glen has said.Have been guilty of over sharpening in the past so a bit gun
shy there. Thanks everyone.

[Arthur Morris]

NIK 50/50 and pulled up the curve a bit then fine tuned with a Regular Layer Mask. And a bit of Eye Doctor work. No additional sharpening.

with love, artie

[Ian McLachlan]

Many thanks indeed for this rework Artie. We all get so much help from this site as you know.
Ian

[Arthur Morris]

You are welcome Ian, that's the plan :) Folks can learn about my NIK recipes Eye Doctor work and tons and tons more -- my complete digital workflow in fact, with dozens of great Photoshop tips in Digital Basics II here. (http://birdsasart-shop.com/the-birds-as-art-current-workflow-e-guide-digital-basics-ii/)

with love, artie

[David Salem]

Great job catching this beautiful kestrel at takeoff Ian. Love the wing position and the nice details. Looks a little thin to me so I would add some more blacks to it to bring out more of the kestrels details and help the lifted side of the face a bit more. Well done buddy

[arash_hazeghi]

Love the dynamic pose and the Bg Ian, this is a textbook example of focus locking behind the head leaving the head a bit soft. depending on the RAW it might be salvageable, shoot me the RAW file and I can see what I can do with it

cheers
Arash