Brahminy Kite in flight

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I photographed this one last week while returning from Bandipur National Park, India. There was a carcass and a few Brahminy Kites (Haliastur indus) were grabbing chunks of it and flying.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 1.4xII ie. at 560mm, ISO 400, f6.3, 1/1600, EV:-2/3rd, Evaluative metering, full frame image.

I think if this image is cropped from the top and right a little bit then the out of focus tree on the right can be avoided and the Brahminy kite comes to the RoT position.

Look forward to your comments and critiques.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Stu Bowie]

Saby, I like the angle of flight in this, together with the wing positions. Sharp where it counts, and love the trailing water droplets. The OOF tree URC doesnt distract. Well captured.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the takeoff pose and included habitat. I might raise the color temperature a few degrees and blur the BG.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Sabyasachi, it's not the tree at right that is distracting, but the large tree at left...and in particular when ombined with the extra space that we see between it and the left edge that makes it look even thicker. Instead of cropping from top and right as you suggest, I would crop from top and LEFT. This cuts down the over-powering effect of that tree and instead transforms it into an anchoring element in the comp (and also now balances nicely with the other tree). This crop also de-centers the subject and gives it more room in front to fly into. What do you think?

P.S. I love the included habitat and flying particles, nice touch!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Stuart & Axel,
Thanks for your comments.
Daniel: Thanks for your repost. I have to figure out how to change the signature position in lightroom.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi