Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Prairie Falcon with its Prey

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    Posts
    506
    Threads
    49
    Thank You Posts

    Default Prairie Falcon with its Prey

    Hi everyone,

    Due to other things in life, I haven't been on BPN for awhile even though I have been photographing whenever I'm free.

    Recently in our city, a pair (or perhaps more) Prairie Falcons have been hanging around a grain elevator hunting the pigeons between 11 am to 1 pm. Prairie Falcons are typically found south of our city, so their appearance for the past month(s) attracted many bird watchers/photographers. This photo was captured last weekend as the Prairie Falcon collided one of the panicking pigeons in mid-air right above our heads. In the original photo, the falcon is much lower in the frame, so I added more canvas and fill it with content aware, then re-crop for composition.


    Name:  IMG_8332_PrairieFalcon_hitPigeon2b_BPN.jpg
Views: 260
Size:  236.2 KB
    Alberta Terminals Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    Canon 7D | EF 400mm f/5.6L | Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec., f/8, ISO 640

    All C&C are welcome. Have a great weekend.

    Raymond

  2. #2
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    41
    Threads
    10
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Awesome moment captured here Raymond. I love the feather trail, was this from the collision or is he plucking this pigeon for lunch.

  3. #3
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Sydney Australia
    Posts
    1,124
    Threads
    187
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Bad day at the office for the pigeon. Great action captured here.

  4. #4
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    152
    Threads
    23
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    This is by far one of the best action shots I have seen recently. Lovely details

  5. #5
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    218
    Threads
    10
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Very good action shot, sharp and plenty of details in the wings. I'd like to know what type of focus your were using (like Area Focus/Single-Point, etc)

  6. #6
    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Posts
    12,731
    Threads
    910
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Wow! The action is incredible. I love all the flying feathers trailing out of the frame. I find the blue of the sky very powerful and might try to tone it down with a bit of color balance or hue/saturation tweaking,
    Gail
    I would also get rid of the black feather that is cut off by the edge of the frame or include it fully.

  7. #7
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Pune, Maharashtra, India
    Posts
    7,409
    Threads
    469
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Awesome moment captured ,just wonderful.I feel like it is happening in front of me. I loved the action of birds and feather trail in the sky.

  8. #8
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    370
    Threads
    100
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Superb in-flight action shot Raymond.

  9. #9
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    19
    Threads
    2
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    might take a tad of the right side so you have the bird and the feathers without any dead space. is the halo around the bird's right wing
    from the lighting or from sharpening?

  10. #10
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    3,867
    Threads
    169
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Amazing action, and the feathers upto the ULC make this so awesome.
    Killer image.

  11. #11
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Edmonton, AB, Canada
    Posts
    506
    Threads
    49
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Osborne View Post
    Awesome moment captured here Raymond. I love the feather trail, was this from the collision or is he plucking this pigeon for lunch.
    I think it's done simultaneously to immobilize the bird.


    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Rambaut View Post
    Bad day at the office for the pigeon. Great action captured here.
    In fact bad every day for the pigeons (11am to 1pm). The pigeons lost their friend or perhaps they were glad that they were not eaten yet.


    Quote Originally Posted by EzhilSuresh View Post
    Very good action shot, sharp and plenty of details in the wings. I'd like to know what type of focus your were using (like Area Focus/Single-Point, etc)
    I use center point with expansion. I normally use the 19 pt AF if the bird is out in the open, but with the grain elevator and flocks of panicking pigeons in mid-air, it's better off to use just one point to avoid mis-focus.


    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Kaufman View Post
    might take a tad of the right side so you have the bird and the feathers without any dead space. is the halo around the bird's right wing
    from the lighting or from sharpening?
    Good question! The bird was shot directly above our heads. The sunlight came from above and behind us, so that's why it looks like there's a halo effect on the edge of the wings. I can still see it in the unedited RAW file as well as another photographer's shot. You're the second person to point it out. Also, I left a bit room on the right and the bottom for the bird to continue its direction...of course, the next frame the bird disappears into the roof of a warehouse.


    Quote Originally Posted by gail bisson View Post
    Wow! The action is incredible. I love all the flying feathers trailing out of the frame. I find the blue of the sky very powerful and might try to tone it down with a bit of color balance or hue/saturation tweaking,
    Gail
    I would also get rid of the black feather that is cut off by the edge of the frame or include it fully.
    Great suggestion Gail!




    Many thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions!

  12. #12
    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    San Francisco, California, United States
    Posts
    18,545
    Threads
    1,318
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    killer action and it's great that you got both sharp the trail of feathers adds drama I'd desaturate the sky a little bit
    New! Sony Capture One Pro Guide 2022
    https://arihazeghiphotography.com/Gu.../Sony_C1P.html


    ------------------------------------------------
    Visit my blog
    http://www.arihazeghiphotography.com/blog

  13. #13
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Costa Rica
    Posts
    4,547
    Threads
    253
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I'm with arash about desat. the sky a tad. but man, that is a picture full of action! I feel bad for the poor pegeon, but that's nature. Tack sharp where it counts and great timing.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics