I got lucky, was able to get this S-T K flying low to wards me, unfortunately did not have the best light angle, the B/W bird makes for a tough exposure. I also believe that my P/P harmed the quality of the picture (few attempts with raw conversion and PS ... but never got what i was looking for)
1/2000", F7.1, ISO 320, 500mm, hand held
almost full frame
I like the head-on pose. Most images of SW Kites I've seen are looking up at the underside. Very nice capture. This weekend there was a pair of swallow-tailed kites hanging around my house all day (central FL), but soaring high in the sky. Sunday afternoon one of them flew up my street about 30-feet high, circled, came back, circled and came back again, at which point I grabbed my camera from the house hoping to get an image like yours. He never came back :(. ... another day.
Love the eye contact Raul. For B/W birds I usually overexpose the whites by 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop. I get more detail in the blacks that way, and I pull the whites back in Lightroom.