Young Peregrine giving Chase

[Raymond Barlow]

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
hand held, natural light, 40% of full frame
D300 / 200-400 VR
1/1600s f/5.0 at 310.0mm iso320

Taken earlier this summer, 2 of the fledglings were practicing their flight skills over the gorge at Niagara Falls Ontario. Trying to get both of them in the frame was very much a challenge, and unfortunatly, the 1 bird here was at the top of my frame, and the second bird was way ahead ! Tracking these speedsters with a 10 pound kit, hand held was fun at times, but most of the time, very frustating!

These birds would sit and rest on the cliffs, out of sight, or on the top of the old hydro building... for hours! And when the action started, you really needed to concentrate on what was going on down there, or before you know it, the birds were gone. 14 trips to this sight, about 90 hours watching, and around 5,000 frames later, I am really looking forward to next year.

take care, and have a good week.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool pose, details and BG, the raised head puts it over the top for me and I don't mind he is flying away from you.

[Tony Whitehead]

Brilliant shot, love the colours and feather details. Head posture great. Lovely BG - I would probably try and darken the pale areas of the BG below the right wing but great image as presented

[James Salywoda]

Awesome Shot Ray! Getting the upward look from the Peregrine makes the shot for me. The details and bg are excellent. Well Done!

[Geoff Shapiro]

Beautiful! The feather detail is great as is the lighting you were able to take advantage of. The upturned head was opportune for sure.

[Juan Aragonés]

Raymond you spendt a lot of time trying to capture the falcons and this superb image is for sure a big reward to your efforts but I am sure that you enjoyed a lot watching these fantastic creatures. I would not mind to spend 90 hours observing the pregrines at such a close range;)
The BG in this image is super, smooth and very rich in color and the details on the featheres are fantastic. Love the head turn an the raised head. Big congratulations and keep them coming:)

[Nikolay Staykov - shotlandetsa]

Really amazing image. I love the detail and bird's pose, the BG is gorgeous too :)

[Linda Robbins]

Gorgeous image. I love the pose and the amazing sharp plumage detail of the top view. The raised head makes this going away pose work extremely well. I agree with Axel that the lighter spots in the Bg should be eliminated. Great capture.