Juvenile Black Kite

[Stephen Earle]

I am not too sure about the identity of this fellow as he appears similar to some other raptors found in South Africa. This id was suggested to me by a knowledgable birder so I'll stick to it for now. Canon 40D, 100-400 L IS USM, ISO 640 1/640 6.3

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

I am no help with the I.D. Stephen but beautiful capture. I really like the forward thrust of the wings and the slight head turn with nice eye contact. Also well framed A round of USM or perhaps curves might make this pop a tad more. Nice timing Stephen and thanks for sharing.

[Lance Warley]

Great shot.

Like Judy said, more contrast and/or sharpening could help, especially to the head.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

liked the details & the sharp eyes of the raptor. there's some kind of imbalance in the composition. am not sure what to suggest...

rgds,
Kaushik

[Stephen Stephen]

The bird's a little past you but the head turn certainly compensates for some of that.

[Jody Melanson]

Nice image Stephen! Hope you don't mind I made some edits to your image.

http://jmelanson.smugmug.com/photos/253921348_kPNoZ-O.jpg

I used a quick mask to select inside the bird. I then created a Brightness/Contrast layer using the Mask. I brightened slightly and reduced Contrast by 25 or so. I boosted the catchlight, sharpened inside the bird using the same Mask created earlier. I used the Smudge tool to get rid of the lines in the upper left.

Hope this helps...

[Stephen Earle]

Thx for commenting everyone. Great pp work Jody.