Kestrel

[Richard Unsworth]

I was hiding in the shadow of a tree waiting for BWK when this paid a call.
Its a 50-60 crop so the IQ has suffered but the fan tail is nice as are the details; sunset behind me at capture.
Chroma noise was moderate, lightened and smart sharp after resize. Catchlight is good; just a question of time for better shots.
I am lucky to live with a 10HA yard atm, raptors are abundant here., HH
7D 100-400 ISO 400 F5.6 1/1000 MANUAL EXPOSURE

[Karl Egressy]

Nice, fully stretched wings and nice fanned tail. The body and head are nicely lit. Nice BIF shot, Richard.

[Arthur Morris]

Good self-critique but I do not get the subject in the center crop....

[John Cooper]

Yes Richard, the extended wings and fully fanned tail make this image. Would like to see the kestrel placed a liitle towards the left.

[Richard Unsworth]

Good self-critique but I do not get the subject in the center crop....

Hi Arthur - me neither what was I thinking lol.

thanks Karl & John

[Daniel Cadieux]

I agree you got a good wing and tail spread, but the IQ has suffered quite a hit. Even a 50% crop should yield better results with this gear. Was the subject underexposed and was it a bit soft to begin with? Just asking because raising the exposure and sharpening aggressively in post to compensate for softness can introduce this type of result. A neat species, and form the sounds of it you'll get more chances with it!

[Richard Unsworth]

Daniel is right on the money here, a tad underexp, on manual so tried to keep ss decent. Using any higher ISO is very bad on my 7D and noise is a major problem.
I am looking forward to getting closer and not having to crop to this extent, this will come with time; the rqaptors are beginning to ignore my prescence.
IQ went down as a result. Softness (Iknow the answer to that:-) -anyone hazard a guess as to why?

[Petros Petrou]

The bird pose is good and the fan tail is a plus but the noise is evident at the underwings. You can easily go up to ISO 800 with your 7D without major noise issues if the exposure is right. You are lucky that you live so close to many raptors.