American Kestrel

[Doug Brown]

Here's an American Kestrel that paid our blind a visit during my time with Alan Murphy and Mike Gray. Decoy owl used, and I added some blue to the sky.

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Canon 1D Mark IV, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/3200, ISO 800, manual exposure, hand held

[Stu Bowie]

Doug, excellent fly by with a full wing spread and fanned tail. I do like the detail and sharpness, and I kinda feel the vertical comp works well here. :w3

[arash_hazeghi]

doesn't get much better than that!

[Humberto Ramos]

This time you did it, well done...

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic pose! Looks sharp with lovely detail. Light looks a bit on the harsh side.

[yogesh_puranik]

wow..superb image grt details..can you share the setup photo

[MohsenVahedipour]

Terrific shot as expected. excellent wing position & IQ. TFS Doug.

[Doug Brown]

wow..superb image grt details..can you share the setup photo

Basically we were in an open-air blind wearing camouflage. The decoy owl was on a pole about 30 feet away from us.

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[Ofer Levy]

Basically we were in an open-air blind wearing camouflage. The decoy owl was on a pole about 30 feet away from us.

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I wonder how much this camouflage is really effective. Raptors have such great vision that I find it hard to believe they can't see your movements. I assume they would fly close to you in order to atttack the decoy even without the camouflage.

[Bill Dix]

Lovely flight shot of this speedster - great wing spread and fanned tail. But the setup shot is priceless. Re. Ofer's comment, I've also read some folks' thoughts that the camo may not do much good, but something worked for you here.

[Doug Brown]

I wonder how much this camouflage is really effective. Raptors have such great vision that I find it hard to believe they can't see your movements. I assume they would fly close to you in order to atttack the decoy even without the camouflage.

I don't have a lot of experience using camo and blinds, so Alan may have more to contribute. In my short time at the blind, I would have to say that the camo was essential for getting the birds in close. This was an open-air blind so we were totally visible to the birds. Raptors (with few exceptions) don't get close if they know you're there. The blind is designed to make it hard to see the human silhouette. I'll see if I can get Alan to chime in.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Love the feather detail, nice spread of wings and tail, sharpness.

The vertical crop works well with the diagonal pose, might try a version with a bit more on left.

I don't think there is any doubt that the raptors can 'see' you, even with the camo, but I suspect it doesn't scream human at them as much as without the camo. Plus, I am sure Alan has tried just about every possible combination, and if he says it works, hard to argue with success. I know he wouldn't dress up like that just for giggles ( well, I hope that is the case :t3)

Cheers

Randy

[Alan Murphy]

I wonder how much this camouflage is really effective. Raptors have such great vision that I find it hard to believe they can't see your movements. I assume they would fly close to you in order to atttack the decoy even without the camouflage.

Hey Guys, after doing this for a few years, I have found that the camo (has to be 3D camo) will blend the human shape into the background. I have had many hawks land on the waist hight frame of the blind right in front of me (I could touch the bird if I wanted to). If your movements are smooth, I believe the birds see that as the wind blowing the leave and branches. I only wish someday someone could come up with a way to discuise the front lens elemants of our lens, as that's more of an issue than us in our camo.

Here's a photo showing the 6 man blind.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Alan!

[Ofer Levy]

Thanks guys! I have learnt another important thing today!! :cheers:

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

The whole blind and camo thing is so interesting Thanks for sharing with us Alan and Doug. I love the pose of the bird as well as the detail in the wings and fanned tail. I too fell the image is a tad harsh I feel from oversharpening?