THEME: PORTRAIT. Juvenile kite

[Paul Burdett]

Hi all. Here is a late entry into the portrait theme for February...a juvenile Black shouldered Kite. Cheers,
Paul

[arash_hazeghi]

that's pretty darn close for a kite! here it's impossible to get this close to the similar white-tailed kites. I wish the light was softer as the shadow on the pupil is a bit distracting. Ours have ruby eye reds compared to your species.

TFS

[gail bisson]

What a fabulous portrait. How did you get so close?
Love all the details in the feathers and that direct gaze.
Agree the sun was a bit high and caused the shadows on the eyes.Do you have an image where the kite is looking up slightly (it would get rid of the shadows).
How big of a crop? What was your EXIF data?
Gail

[greg cowle]

This is great. Although the light is bright you have it at the perfect angle so that the shadow gives a symmetrical surround to the bill. Agree lower sun angle might be better, but we will never know.

[Paul Burdett]

Cheers Arash. The adults have those red eyes here too.

[Debapratim Saha]

Lovely close up with nice stare and complementary BG.

[Isaac Grant]

Very very nice. Beautiful details, beautiful stare, perfect background. Agree this with the sun lower in the sky would be perfect but I very much like it as presented. The symmetrical shadows and the shadow on the beak do add interest. What is the line on the bottom of the frame on the wing? Is it white wash from another bird? If so that may be the kind of thing you chose to clone out or use a content aware fill to remove. Could even use the spot healing brush to quickly remove it. This is my favorite frame that you have posted. Congrats.

[dankearl]

As Everyone mentions the shadows are tough but this is really nice...

[Bill Dix]

Ditto the above comments. Beautiful portrait with exquisite detail. Too bad about the shadows.

[William Dickson]

Very well done Paul...The bird is looking real good. Lovely detail. Nice POV and DOF. I wished I could get close to a Kite, fab image..Good work

Will

[Dorian Anderson]

Yeah, this is wonderful look at this often flighty species. Well done, Paul. Detail is really lovely, but I wish the eyes were as sharp as the bill/lores. It's still a really striking and very effective image!

[Paul Burdett]

Thank you all for the feedback...very much appreciated.
Gail: Just went back and checked the shoot from that day. I do have a few where the Kite is looking slightly higher, and some similar shots to the one posted but only one eye is on me, but sharper....I posted this one as it was a direct stare, and thought that may have been a requirement for the "portrait" theme. However, I do agree about the eyes in shadow. This was only a small crop as I was able to creep up and get very close to it...perched on a branch. exif: 400mm, 1/1600th sec, f6.3, iso400 AV mode hand-held. Thought i'd post another from another shoot at the same location, but not quite the same "stare". exif is the same except 1/1000th sec.

Isaac: Thank you...I do appreciate your kind feedback and will take further feedback onboard in future posts. I'm glad you referenced to the background, as the original photo had a large blue area on the bottom right corner (sky) and I tried to clone as best I could to match the browner sections. Cheers.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the eye contact, details, composition and its incredible that you got that close. Congratulations Paul.

[annmpacheco]

What a "wow" image, love the crop and the eyes despite the shadows, its a real grabber!

[John Mack]

Hands down one of your very best frames. Great detail with a nice pose and background. Light is a little harsh but who cares. Nice one.

[Paul Burdett]

Ann/John: Thanks so much!

[David Salem]

The details and the BG look awesome but the shadowed eyes really hurt the image. This is the problem with shooting raptors, especially Kites. They have a large brow ridge to protect their eyes from direct light while hunting but if the sun isn't lined up perfectly with the eyes, you get heavy shadows like this. Next time try to sit with the bird and really watch and wait as it looks around for that split second it looks up a bit and catches the sun in its eyes. I have done this hundreds if not thousands of times and there might only be one or two good frames of the 50-100 I shot of the subject. Don't be afraid to over shoot and burst whenever it changes head position. Also some subtle squeaks from your mouth can make the head change in the right direction. Well done

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David. Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. It's actually what I normally do as far as waiting for the "right moment". I have many other shots where the eyes are indeed better positioned, but this was the only one I got with a direct stare. Cheers.