Kestrel in Flight (c)

[Raymond Barlow]

D300 / 200-400 VR @ 200mm
1/2500 sec, f4, iso320
handheld, natural light, 75% of ff
Added a little canvas to the right side.
Cloned out the jessies.

From last weekends workshop near Simcoe Ontario.

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Ray: This shot is killeriferous!!! So close to a tiny little raptor - love the composition and the coppery, green bokeh is attractive with curious, vague circlets of light that make it interesting. Oh, and I really like the way the flat back of the bird parallels the top of the frame -- nice. Okay, don't get annoyed here but it appears that the image of the bird, especially around the face, is a bit hard on my computer. Perhaps a little less sharpening? If everybody else thinks I'm off than you should be golden on this one.

[Danny Laredo]

Ray... this is just stunning. Wonderful flight pose..excellent sharpness...love the blurred wings..Bg is excellent as is the light..
All in all this is truely outstanding!

[Dave Blinder]

Great lighting, wingspan, and HA Raymond. Surprised to see this much blur at 1/2500s, wouldn't mind seeing a complete flight freeze.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Raymond,
While i don't normally like blurs....I think it works very well here! It probably is the combo of BG and subject.....I like the different view and comp on this....very nice!

[denise ippolito]

Raymond, I love the composition and the details. Sharpness looks good to me.The blurred wings look lovely. Nicely done.

[arash_hazeghi]

Awesome flight shot, it is not easy to catch this speedy little raptor in flight. well done

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Amazing to see quite a bit of wing blur at this shutter speed. Sharpness, eye contact and BG look good. I might put the bird a tad lower in the frame and tone down the whites on the rump.

[Bonnie Block]

Beautiful image, Ray. Wing blur is appropriate and I love the closeness of a usually far -away tiny subject.

[paul leverington]

Ray--I love your bg here and the just right ammount of wing blur. The bird looks very spectacular. I feel some area tonal variation in the bg would definitely improve. I mean the texture and color are great, it's just that it's all about the same bright tone and I'm thinking some strategic darkening, (global and area on the bg) could help lead the eye around more and create a more gentle looking distance transition between the forground(bird) and the bg. A more 3d look IOW. Some tail showing would have been nice but the wings, feather detail, eye, colors of his markings all work to still produce a powerful comp element with him. Just a little he looks like there is too much contrast on him.

Out of curiosity--Which way was the wind blowing when you took this shot? (if there was a wind) I might have an idea for you--one you probably know already but thought I would bring it up to you.

Paul

[Harshad Barve]

Beautiful posiotion and HA here , BG is killer
TFS

[Xavier Maessen]

Amazing capture. Super sharpness on the head and the body, while the movement is nicely rendered by the motion blur on the wings. I like everything in this picture!

Xavier

[Stu Bowie]

I like the DOF effect here, together with the soaring posture. The Kestrel pops nicely from the BG too. Well captured.

[Kiran Poonacha]

loved this sir, nice focus on the head, the blurred wings add well, nice colours too.. congrats..

[David Hemmings]

Pretty sweet shot Ray!

[James Salywoda]

Awesome shot Ray a great look at this little beauty....

[EdNguyen]

What a shot! Great job tracking the kestrel in flight. I like the motion blur in the wings. The bokeh is nice as well.