"Isn't She Beautiful?"

[Marina Scarr]

Doug Brown and I had the good fortune to photograph raptors with our very own David Salem in SoCal. He offers amazing opportunities at a wildlife area near his home where he has set up about 30 perches. The raptors come in and are photographed from his truck with a beanbag. No calling or baiting, and the area is chalk full of birds of prey. It was truly a treat, and it's not as easy to shoot from a vehicle as one would think!!

The first day the photography was difficult b/c it was windy and the raptors had a tough time balancing on the perches. However, on the second day, the wind lay down and the sun shown just before sunset on this stunning female American Kestrel. The song "Isn't She Beautiful?" came to me as I was processing this image.

A big thanks to David for this amazing opportunity!

Canon 1D4, Canon 500M & 1.4 @ 700mm
F8, 1/1000sec, ISO 800, manual mode
Beanbag from a truck window

Thank you in advance for all thoughtful comments and critiques!

[Graham Wilkes]

She certainly is, lovely light and perfect head turn,well caught.

Graham

[John Robinson]

Really very nice Marina.
You are lucky to have such oportunities.
Great shot.
Beatiful light.
John

[Randy Stout]

Marina:

Lovely light, the soft cloud in bg adds sig., a most delicate preening going on.

In a perfect world, perhaps no bark hanging off the bottom of the perch, but it was a wonderful situation that you captured well.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

You are right, she is beautiful. Nice pose in great light. Love the slightly ruffled feathers.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful Kestrel, Marina. My nemesis, I have yet to have a good opportunity. Thank you for sharing.

[David Salem]

Great job getting this "beautiful" frame Marina!!
The preening pose is perfect with the one feather in the beak and I really like the loose feathers. Nice BG colors too.
Not the best perch in the world but I'm working on some better ones for next season.
Glad you guys made it out, it was a fun and productive couple of days.
Good job getting the hang of shooting out of the truck. See Ya Soon

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot a beautiful bird in wonderful light.

[Gianluca Molina]

WOW!!!
Nice, nice, very nice!

[Bill Dix]

Good one, Marina! Great preening pose in lovely light. I hope to find a spot in David's truck one of these days.

[Adhika Lie]

Wow, beautiful, Marina! Is this the Kestrel at San Joaquin?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Marina this is a well done frame , congrats to this image !!!
Seems that you had a good time in the truck

Love the clean frame and the pose of the bird , i just might think of adding a bit more depth to the HL and 1/4 tones .

TFS Andreas

[Marina Scarr]

Wow, beautiful, Marina! Is this the Kestrel at San Joaquin?

No, I don't believe that's the name of the area where we photographed. This place was farther east I believe.

[Glenn Conlan]

Nice meeting you Marina. I am glad Dave put you in the right spot at the right time. A very nice frame of Lady Kestrel well presented. Hope to see more of what you captured on your visit.

Glenn

[adrian dancy]

Of course she looks lovely:)....A very nice palette , pose and perch. Very nice indeed.

[gail bisson]

Absolutely lovely!
Love the single feather in the beak and the BG.
Well done.
I wonder if this image needs a bit more punch on the kestrel- I am thinking that you could add a point of blacks to the neutrals in selective color.
Gail

[stuart wanuck]

well done great bg

[Mike Poole]

Love this one Marina, no nits from me

Mike

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Marina! I like the preening pose, IQ, details, BG and composition.

[Diane Miller]

WOW! Fantastic!

Hope we get to see more!