kestrel on thorns

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 2xII, ISO 800, f8, 1/1250, handholding, full frame. Minor post processing in Lightroom 2.5

My hands were aching due to the handholding for sometime. So I increased the ISO to 800 for a higher shutter speed.

Look forward to your comments and critiques.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Doug Brown]

Good looking bird. I'd like a tighter crop with the bird placed slightly higher and to the left in the frame. A bit more sharpening would help. And I would tone down the thorns at the bottom of the frame. Hand holding the 400 f/2.8 Sabya? Way to go!

[ChasMcRae]

Nice bird and would crop as Doug said.
If possible would tone down cheek,Rt. foot and thorns. Minor point since breast appearance is very nice.
Interesting that this bird is called a Kestrel and so different from our Kestrel.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Sabya...liked the thorns a lot :-) and the shallow DOF. agree with the above suggestions.

[Dave Leroy]

Very nice shot. I particulary like the nice soft colours of the bird and bg. Very prickly perch. Dave

[Steve Canuel]

Neat perch. Good looking bird and BG. Image seems a little bright but probably my preference for darker images.

[Harshad Barve]

Handholding 400/2.8 , Hmmmm
Great job Sabyasachi , nice control on techs
TFS

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Dear All,
Thanks for your comments.

Doug,
You handhold the 600 mm all the time. So I thought let me try. I only handhold if that is the only solution. I must confess that it is a huge effort to use 400 f2.8+2x combo with a 1 series camera. Apart from the weight of the lens and 2x combo (which is about 275 gms more than the 600mm), the distribution of weight is a problem here. Frankly speaking, I have no idea how you guys keep on photographing handheld everyday.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi