American Kestrel - Falco sparverius

[Bernie Monette]

There are three Kestrels at this park, Colonel Sam Smith in Toronto, and they have become quite tame - in a manner of speaking.

This was taken with a D300 at 320 ISO, 1000/s and f5.6 using a 400 f5.6 and 1.4 TC. Along with a monopod.

There were some branch tops to the left and right cloned away and the eye was lightened a bit. Some work with the curves and tones. This is about 70% of full frame.

Comments and critiques appreciated!

Cheers,

Bernie
http://www.flickr.com/photos/berniemonette

[Markus Jais]

What a little branch for the falcon. It shows how light they are.
I like the head turn, the composition and the blood on the bill. I might sharpen the image a bit more.

Markus

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the look-back pose and eye contact and wish for a lower angle. I might sharpen the bird more and could also see this as a vertical crop.