Are you my lunch??

[Morkel Erasmus]

Captured this Yellow-billed Kite on a bright overcast day in the Kruger Park last December. I noticed him soaring all around the road, diving for what was probably a rodent that strayed too close to the side of the road. He kept criss-crossing the road while keeping his wings tilted to the air currents.

I eventually had to open up the sunroof and try and shoot him through the roof while trying to drive slowly forward to keep up with him. Missus Erasmus was napping next to me so I was on my own. Luckily I didn't wreck the car and came up with some keepers. The high-key sky is due to the overcast weather. I set the exposure bias to +2 to get decent detail on the bird.

Techs:
Nikon D300s with 200-400mm VR @ 240mm
f4.0 @ 1/2500 SS @ ISO-400
Exposure bias +2

[Hendri Venter]

shoot him through the roof while trying to drive slowly :D:D Anything to get the shot.


The +2 exposure did the job here mate. I like the full wingspan and slight head turn.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Morkel,

Probably not the safest photographing technique to capture an image;) but the end result is pleasing:). The wing spread and the diagonal it introduces into the image makes the image more diatomic in my opinion. The head till give the bird some character. I also think your choice of cropping works very well in presenting this subject.

I took the image into photoshop and lightened it just and little and then in selective colors added 3 points of blacks to the blacks and neutrals. This provided a subtle change but one that I thought enhanced your already very nice image. Something to considered.


Nicely done and thanks for sharing!

[Arthur Morris]

So Phil, please do share :)

Mork-man, flash at about zero with a Better Beamer would have given this some pop and eliminated the underwing noise.

[Phil Ertel]

OK Artie, your wish is my command! :) Here it is.

As I stated before, the effect of my edits are subtle. Morkel, I'll leave it up to you to determine whether they enhance the image or not and are worth the effort. In this version I also ran noise reduction some noise reduction using Noiseware Professional.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Phil. The repost is better but the underwings still look muddy/noisy. Flash would not have hurt :)

[Morkel Erasmus]

appreciate the comments guys...

thanks for the efforts Phil! looks a tad better.

Artie - an external flash and better beamer are still on my shopping list...this weekend I at last ticked of a pro tripod and ballhead plus wireless remote for landscaping...now for the rest :)