Juvenile White Tail Kite

[Conrad Tan]

Went out to Arastradero Perserve in the hills of Palo Alto, CA around 6PM and found this fella (and 11 of his brothers and sisters). I used my Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 +1.4TC, shutter speed of 1/2000s, Shutter Priority, Exposure Compensation 0, Evaluative metering. For post processing, I did some noise removal, brightened up the sky (it was dark blue), did some overall sharpening and a shot of linear contrast. Unfortunately, the whole area has been fenced off recently so I'm not sure if I can get anymore images this close to one. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed getting the shot. Thanks for looking!

[Colin Knight]

I would like a little less interference from the leaves. Love the exposure control and the sharpness. Great detail and eye contact!

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Conrad, these guys are far and don't have much choice of perch you did very well. good details in whites and darks, and thanks for the tip about these guys. The rangers are sticking around that area not letting the photographers get close, can't understand their logic!

BTW, I think would look better w/o frame and stuff, just plain photo with watermark is what everybody uses here.

[Duane Noblick]

Love the habitat in this one Conrad. Great work on the whites and excellent detail overall.

[Troy Lim]

Conrad, like it as presented. There are always something better that we could wish for but in your case like Arash have said, it was far. Definitely something to keep.

[marco peschiera]

BTW, I think would look better w/o frame and stuff, just plain photo with watermark is what everybody uses here.

:):)

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Beautiful image with a wonderful pose and excellent lighting and detail as well as lovely eye contact. Really love the composition too as the foliage adds a lot of interest and an image I would love to paint !! Fine work Conrad !!

[Stu Bowie]

Super alert pose, and I like the foliage on the perch. Good overall detail captured too.

[Fabs Forns]

This bird is pure eye candy :)
Great sharpness and detail and very good EXP control. Another vote for loosing the frame.
Thanks for sharing, Conrad, I like your work very much.

[Conrad Tan]

This bird is pure eye candy :)
Great sharpness and detail and very good EXP control. Another vote for loosing the frame.
Thanks for sharing, Conrad, I like your work very much.

Thank you very much Fabs! I'll dump the frame for my next post! :o:o:o

[Conrad Tan]

I would like a little less interference from the leaves. Love the exposure control and the sharpness. Great detail and eye contact!

Thank you very much for the critique. I wish I could have gotten up to a higher vantage point but he was perched just too high for me. :o:o:o

[Conrad Tan]

Very nice Conrad, these guys are far and don't have much choice of perch you did very well. good details in whites and darks, and thanks for the tip about these guys. The rangers are sticking around that area not letting the photographers get close, can't understand their logic!

BTW, I think would look better w/o frame and stuff, just plain photo with watermark is what everybody uses here.

Hey Arash! How are you my friend? I'm happy to help with the location anytime man. I'll dump the frame for my next post for sure. It seems folks don't care for them here :o:o:o

[Conrad Tan]

Conrad, like it as presented. There are always something better that we could wish for but in your case like Arash have said, it was far. Definitely something to keep.

Hey Troy! Happy to hear from you man. Thanks for dropping by :D:D:D

[Conrad Tan]

:):)

LOL :D:D:o:o:D:D

[Conrad Tan]

Beautiful image with a wonderful pose and excellent lighting and detail as well as lovely eye contact. Really love the composition too as the foliage adds a lot of interest and an image I would love to paint !! Fine work Conrad !!

Thank you kindly for commenting Judy! If you would like to paint it I am happy to send you a larger image! :):):)

[Conrad Tan]

Super alert pose, and I like the foliage on the perch. Good overall detail captured too.

Thank you very much Stuart! :D:D:D