First Flight

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX
f/4 500mm with 1.4
f/5.6
1/2000
ISO 1250

There is a pair of Kestrels nesting high up in a hole on a ruined castle about 5 minutes from my house, so I have been watching them quite a lot. On Tuesday evening I went along, and couldn't have picked a better moment, as the young birds decided to leave the nest. I was on top of a small hill next to the castle, this gave me a better POV. This is one of the birds which clambered over the castle, before taking its first flight. It flew from the castle into a nearby tree, then landed safely away from the gulls and magpies which were hanging around.

Will

[Isaac Grant]

Love this William. Not only did you capture a special and important moment for the bird but you did it beautifully. Love the take off pose, the eye contact, the rocks and the yellow flowers. Very well done.

[gail bisson]

Very nice William.
Love the rocks and the color of the sky. Great moment captured.
I can understand why you included the flowers on the RHS of the frame as they add a nice pop of color BUT I think I would reframe to add more room in front of the kestrel and leave them out.
I always struggle with leaving a beautiful element out of a picture when I know that it would be better compositionally to leave them out. I tell myself that I am the only one that knows the flowers are there and we (the viewers) can't miss what we did not know was there!
The rocks and lichens on the castle are lovely on their own and you still have a lovely color palette.
I also love the fact that you casually mention the castle near your home- only in the British Isles can one say this!!
I also wish the feet were a bit sharper but certainly not a deal breaker,
Gail

[Geoffrey Montagu]

How great to capture the inaugural takeoff and flight, William. Amazing light you had to work with turning this into a remarkable image. Wonderful detail and a lovely BG.

Geoffrey




http://http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Alex Becker]

Really nice on William, such a special moment well captured. Eye contact and cliff are great. I like the flowers, but can also see a different crop to give the bird more room to fly into. Also got a chuckle out of the casual mention of castle near your house ha ha. POV is nice too. Hope you get more excellent shots of these guys as they grow up. TFS

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. I was having a great time with these youngsters, something I have never experienced before. Both adults were also present, still feeding the youngsters once they had flown to the nearby tree. Also fiercely attacking the gulls if they came too close.

Will

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, great timing to catch the take off. The castle wall adds interest to the background along with the hint of clouds in the light blue sky. Thank you for sharing.

[Mike Singh]

Waw great capture. Maybe a little lift in the saturation on the Kestrel to give it some extra pop.


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