Kestrel in Colors

[Loi Nguyen]

Finally the Kestrel left his high perch to come down to tree high level with the Santa Monica mountains in the background. I grabbed a chair to get to his eye level and positioned the chaor so that the background is a multi-tone background.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III
1/3200
f5.6
ISO-1000
Handheld while standing on chair

Reduced exposure by 0.5EV in DPP, RAW conversion to CS6
Levels, Curves, lumino mask 33%, UMS, NR to BG
Cloned out 1 distracting piece of grass and a blob of dark color.

Appreciate your comments.

Thank you

Loi

[Martin Dunn]

beautiful Loi,
I see a lot of kestrels but they are always in the sky and look very dark. These colours are super.
I like that you have managed to get eye level with the kestrel and the head turn is great.

[gail bisson]

This is excellent Loi. That BG is "to die for".
Excellent IQ and pose. I like the raised foot.
This guy must be awfully tame to let you get up on a chair without flying off.
I might crop a bit off RHS and this would also look great a a vertical,
Gail

[MohsenVahedipour]

Very lovely image, I like the great IQ, BG & pose, specially that raised foot. TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, very lucky to get this as they can be 'shy' birds I've found.

Personally I do like space around a subject (where possible), but agree with Gail that you could crop a little tighter all round, but still having the subject off-set to the RHS. The light does look a little harsh and so applying with a Luminosity adj to help the brighter whites (or exposure/highlights), then say & 50% or less (subject to taste) brush in over parts of the wing, head & chest does help I think. I like the BKG, nicely diffused. With regard to the techs, were you thinking of a higher SS in case it flew, if not, a bit more DOF I feel would have helped IMHO.

TFS
Steve

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely pose, details & BG. hope you get it on a better perch next time.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Nice catch Troy! I think you have the IQ to make this a bit of a tighter crop, and I'd think about a vertical.

The perch isn't ideal, but the rest of the kestrel makes up for it.

Miguel

[Bill Dix]

Lovely look and detail on the Kestrel, and beautiful BG. Quick thinking to grab the chair, and amazing that he would sit still that long. My local Kestrels won't let me get within a half-mile, much less sit for a portrait. A different perch would be great next time, but this is a lovely shot.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent shot of this nice looking raptor.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

What a luxury to have an approachable kestrel, especially one that's this beautiful.
Nice work to get that beautiful bg.
Why 1/3200, iso 1000, f5.6? Were you prepared for a take-off shot?
Light looks a bit harsh and wish the perch was natural, but it certainly is a gorgeous bird.

[David Salem]

Way to go Loi. Nice work getting this guy in the open and close enough to make it a detailed shot. Light dose look a bit harsh but the shot looks pretty good overall. The BG really makes this shot nice and Im ok with the perch, especially since its rusty.
Nice work!

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Everyone, you are right about cropping tighter. I used to have images with the birds a tiny part of the frame and then cropped, so now I;m a bit leaning too far on the opposite direction. A tighter crop does bring more focus to the subject without giving away too much of the BG. I really think the Bg made the shot here. In the OP, I used Curves to pull down the highlights on the BG too much, thinking it would help with focusing on the Kestrel, but the Op looks a bit dull. So here in the RP, I restored the brightness of the BG. It was taken about 1 hour before sunset here in Southern California, yet the sun was still pretty intense as I felt the heat on my back.

Yes, I was hopping for a takeoff especially when I brought a chair over and climbed on it, but no, this Kestrel won't fly off unless someone approaches it really close and directly r making sudden threatening movements. So here I was standing on the chir hoping the kestrel would take off and he wouldn't. I couldn't hold the rig any longer. At that point, he spotted a cricket and went for it.

The only trouble is this is a community garden with small lots for each members and the surrounding is pretty cluttered. The kestrel mostly likes to perch high up on a man made perch, not so interesting. So I just sat around watching him waiting for the right moment. I still have yet managed to get a beautiful flight shot against a killer BG.

Here is the RP.

Thank you very much.

Loi

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent IQ and pose.very nice light & BG.