Kestrel

[Steve Kaluski]

About a month ago I went to checkout a location 30 mins drive away where currently there were a pair of Kestrels happy to be given a free meal, and to pose in front of a camera. Well two weeks a go we had a slight dusting of snow, it was -3 degrees with a beautiful hoar frost, blue sky, an opportunity not to turn down.

I have used RD for almost 4 years and to 'lift Artie's words' it showed the exposure to be dead-solid perfect at ISO 12,800.


Steve

Subject: Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
Exposure: 1/1000 at f/9 ISO12,800 EV +2.33
Original format: Landscape, cropped slightly for presentation
Processed via: Lr 13.0.2 & Ps 25.3.0

Note: The subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behaviour of the subject.

Mouse is dead and bred for snakes and I cannot see any difference between this and using sound recordings.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Pretty amazing opportunity and capture, Steve.

Superb IQ, looks great for 12.800 ISO. Frame well exposed and PP seems effortless as usual. Interesting 'perch', love it :w3

The tiny bit of snow adds to the image. Subject is sharp and I like the feeding pose, also the clean BG which helps the subject stand out so well.

Cannot find fault with this, works for me as presented. Would absolutely love to have this in my folders!

Thank you so much for sharing,

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, thanks for commenting.

When I left the house in the morning, it was pitch black, hoar frost, and about 150m visibility because of thick mist/fog, then after around 12 miles the whole day changed into this early winter wonderland and perhaps the best day of this year, especially for photography.


Superb IQ, looks great for 12.800 ISO.

With the light, nailing everything the ISO was a breeze to process, plus having again just tweaked the 'Case' setting it hit the sweet spot nailing every frame in both cameras, thank God for 512GB cards!

As the day unfolded it offered more behavioural aspects, plus creating some very interesting lighting as you know.

Thanks again.

Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hi Gabriela, thanks for commenting.

When I left the house in the morning, it was pitch black, hoar frost, and about 150m visibility because of thick mist/fog, then after around 12 miles the whole day changed into this early winter wonderland and perhaps the best day of this year, especially for photography.



With the light, nailing everything the ISO was a breeze to process, plus having again just tweaked the 'Case' setting it hit the sweet spot nailing every frame in both cameras, thank God for 512GB cards!

As the day unfolded it offered more behavioural aspects, plus creating some very interesting lighting as you know.

Thanks again.

Steve

Thank you Steve, I look forward to see more images as you get to process:5

[Colin Driscoll]

What Gabriela said, lovely scene and contrasting with the 42 deg day we have just had here in Oz.

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Steve,

I'm really enjoying this one. The frost on the fence top gives a wonderful wintry feel to the image.

The kestrel looks very nice - I also like the feeding pose - it looks good from the side.

Nicely processed - I wouldn't have expected that the image was made with ISO 12,800. Was f/9 entirely necessary or could you have opened up a little and lowered the ISO?

The difference between using a mouse as bait and using sound recordings is that this way the bird is rewarded with a meal!

Thanks for sharing,

Gerald

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gerald, nice to see you back and thanks for the comments.


Nicely processed - I wouldn't have expected that the image was made with ISO 12,800. Was f/9 entirely necessary or could you have opened up a little and lowered the ISO?

Firstly, with the 1.4x, the aperture defaults to f/10, plus... with increasing the EV ie +2.33, your SS drops and so you need to bump it up, one reason for Auto ISO.


The difference between using a mouse as bait and using sound recordings is that this way the bird is rewarded with a meal!

Gerald, Pass Go and collect 200 euros :bg3:, in Winter meals are in short supply, hunting is tough for all Avian, in this way the 'photographer' gets the shots hopefully and the Kestrel(s) get food and it helps sustain them.

Yes, to a degree we are messing with Nature, however with dwindling species I think we owe it to help them in whatever way we can.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

An interesting perch, as far as man-made perches go. The dusting of snow definitely adds to the uniqueness.
The bright BG works nicely for me. I definitely wish the bird wasn't turned away.

Would love to hear more about your setup. Were you in a hide? How did you learn that this individual was happy to take a free meal.
Just curious, having never done setups with raptors.

TFS.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Sid, it’s all on a working farm where these birds can freely predate, the wall is a dry stone wall, which is typical of the area and this style has been used for hundreds of years.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super colours and good action, super processing, it's a great image.

[Steve Kaluski]

Super colours and good action, super processing, it's a great image.

Yes, that day it all came together rather nicely IMHO, I'm sure you will be planning a trip!!! :bg3:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve ...
a superb image of the Kestrel , with lovely colors , tones and the frost on the perch .
Processing is as good as it can be , the pose is cool and dynamic .... makes it somehow different .
Interesting that folks still comment on the used " high iso " .... we all should know that for some of us the ISO does not play a big role any longer , unless we go above 25.600 .

Regardless of the opinion about giving food or use audio , attracted is attracted IMHO .... do not think the birds need a reward . It just might help them across the winter , but when they become fed in spring and summer for the commercial success .... even when enough natural food is present they do might become addicted to that feeding . And if the feeding is stopped for some reason , they might start to struggle . Just my thoughts ... for sure I do use it myself and would also on commercial places .

In the end you created some cool frames at that place , I wish we something similar close by :bg3:

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Steve,

While the image is obviously well done, and I love the frosted stone wall, and the bird is lovely, and I love the light and the background, and ISO 12800 looks great, and you have captured the peak of the action, I cannot understand why nobody above mentioned that the bird is angled about ten degrees away from the plane of the sensor. For me, that is a huge negative. Subject to film plane orientation always needs to be considered from the get-go.

Were you in a blind or in a vehicle?

What was the bait? Was it dead or alive?

Either way, I am personally fine with attracting birds into photographic range.

Anyone interested in Digital Basics can learn more here (https://birdsasart-shop.com/the-rawdigger-e-guide/). Note -- you do not take RawDigger into the field -- you learn via post-capture study.

with love to all, artie

[Steve Kaluski]

Thank you Artie.


I cannot understand why nobody above mentioned that the bird is angled about ten degrees away from the plane of the sensor.

I think perhaps they leave the HA for you? :bg3::bg3: Hopefully I can address that in a future posting Artie, however for me it hasn't quite got the 'atmosphere' this has. I knew is was slightly angled away, but felt the whole content, environment, atmosphere, time of day would envelope the slight 'turn away'.


Were you in a blind or in a vehicle?

Blind


What was the bait? Was it dead or alive?

As per my intro Artie:

Note: The subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behaviour of the subject.

The mouse is dead and bred for snakes and I cannot see any difference between this and using sound recordings.