The Queen of the Rock

[shane shacaluga]

This female peregrine single-handedly controls Gibraltar aerospace at the moment. I have been trying to get a good shot of her for a while but she is quite elusive. This past weekend while out in the boat getting pictures of marine birds, I heard the distinctive "keck keck keck" sound they make, coming from a cliff nearby

I got as close as I dared on the boat and after a bit of squinting I noticed her on her throne, slightly in the shade, with a huge crop!! Probably eaten a rock pigeon.

Raising myself as high as possible on the bow of the boat, risking a very wet camera, I took a few shots. Unfortunately the fact that she was in the shade and the moving boat put me at a disadvantage with the techs but like the results considering the situation

D800e
300f4 + 1.7x TC
f6.7
1/1000
ISO 2000

Cropped for composition and NR and toning down of BG. Kept getting noise on the black sideburn so applied some selective NR there too.

The pinkish-yellow tones is reflection from the limestone rock face

Thanks for viewing

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Shane, I feel you have done extremely well with both the IQ and overall shot. I like your description of her sitting on her throne, and the pose looks good looking out over her territory. Exposure looks good too.

Comp wise, I would maybe come in from the RHS - about half of the space.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks Stuart, i was trying a few different crops but was unsure whether the cave wall top right of the image added to the composition or detracted

Will try a few different crops see what I end up with ;)

[Karl Egressy]

Nice perching pose, showing the bird off in its habitat.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image of gorgeous lady.

Regards,
Satish.