Critique Falco tunnuculus: the wind meister

Stuart Philpott

Stuart Philpott

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Stu
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Kez man I love kestrels,can sit and watch for hours:rolleyes: This is one of the best I guess from an absolute blast of a day a couple of weeks back despite being colder than the Artic this was a very special day for me. Only one thing marred it all and that was the wind was utterly wrong for where this little fella wanted to hunt,he came back while I stood in a lane several times,but almost always I was shooting head on. I think this might be a young bird hence the he I know what adults look like and feel this is smaller and draber than the female whom also hunts here,ti's tricky this one,I felt I was shooting one bird until looking back at the images,but there is just a hint of grey on this guys face which Is why i'm curious and have dwelt on this.

Image is full frame 420mm 1div iso 1250 ss 1/5000 f5.6


Now can I please have some sun and the wind at my back tomorrow I wanna another go. :D I don't care how damn cold just want this chance with the wind at my back. Ahh guys I know only a kes I'm a saddo:police: I dreamt of them the night before and came home grinning like a cheshire cat but very little to keep still some of the best tail shots I've got so far;)

_70F0261 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

cheers for all the help guys

stu
 
I'd say that's about as good as you could have got from that angle Stu. Ideally there would be a better view of the face - it's certainly not bad, just the head angle is a little turned away. Did you get any of it before it got slightly ahead of you? Wing position is spot on though.

Detail looks good, nicely processed. The bird is a little high in the frame, but I'm guessing that you used the centre point for AF, and if the wings were on a down beat I'd be saying it needed to be higher up in the frame - so a no-win situation really! I take it you don't have PS yet, as adding canvas on this frame would be as easy as PS gets.

No doubt with your enthusiasm you'll get him at the best angle soon enough - looking forward to seeing it.

Excellent techs at the shooting stage.

Mike
 
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Mike thanks for the comprehensive crit really appreciated ,yes on center point. Maybe with time a place where being able to add a bit of canvas might help,ha ha sorry buddy it's stupid oclock trashed a toe yesterday can't sleep:rolleyes: ,yes I'd love to add canvas:D no PS yet no sharpening applied. which is heart warming given your reply and my concerns over my IQ. I know mate placement isn't the best when this close it is a bit rock and a hard place isn't it? I'm delving into a monitor first Mike and hopefully PC to follow any advice would be gratefully excepted on either

. He didn't come past me Mike he's just breaking from hover to stoop,so basically this is one of the few where he isn't completely tail to camera just turned slightly towards me briefly. I guess I got slightly lucky to just grab a few where this happened,although with hindsight on those ocassions I should have held the shutter down longer. something for next time. Cool on the techs,cheers again for the reinforcment Mike.Again exposure was tricky contrast quite high ,so any shadows are pretty harsh

The wind was evil mate howling and damn cold, he faced me twice If I recollect correctly but although i got him in frame he was coming at me like a bullet,my tracking was lacking mate nowt in focus,shame they had the potential to be wonderful.
I love them Mike this was by far my best chance so far. I really struggle with getting good images of kez mate always have. so it's wicked to have got this chance. I always want to shoot them in sunlight ,rarely get anything i'm happy with without the sun on them,might just be me though These guys see lots of photographers,if i'm right and this is a young 'un w'ell have seen him be fed by mum back in the summer,so they are not too worried by togs.Just need luck mate as their should be every chance of a repeat. We see these guys often been steadily getting closer and better chances for a while now...just need that bit 'o'luck now. Some of the hoovering shots even though one can't see they head are lovely Mike, i might post some the feathers markings and wing shapes really grab me so rare to have one hovering not much above head height and get that pov.

It was also an eye opener how damn close they have to be with my tools Mike I managed to track one stoop but much smaller in frame sadly not sure on the IQ again there.:( Mind him on that wind,just getting the rascal in frame while diving made me smile;)


cheers Mike always value your thoughts and encouragement :)

Stu
 
Keep them coming Stu.

The first is one to file away until you get your new software sorted out. It needs a couple of tweaks that could all be done in DPP 4 in all honesty, barring a bit of cloning. I'd crop up from the bottom as the out of focus branches are distracting. I went to just below the 'V' shaped part on the horizontal branch, then cloned out the 'V'. The bird needs to be a bit brighter and more vibrant, and if this washes the BG out, then you cold always add a bit of saturation to the cyans (aqua in DPP4) and blues using the sliders in the bottom row, 4th from the left.

The second flight shot is decent, but the lack of eye contact kills it for me. Good you're getting full frame images though!

Mike
 
Cheers Keith:)

Mike thanks muchly mate:) fair points to make :cool:. Interesting on the cropping: the branch didn't bother me much. The eye contact is a pig to get with them hovering mike it's two fold I think,first up the ridge above eyes blocks the sun I erm think:rolleyes::D from their eyes when hunting,so eyes are almost always in shade ie no highlight,second is the focus of course on the prey item,it's so intense mate they barely give me a second glance.I've just been looking at this facet Mike hardly an image where I have eyecontact or highlights for that matter.

More will follow buddy ,got tones to sift through cheers for the critical pointers that will help:)

take care both many thanks

Stu
 
Agree about lack of eye contact but this is oneof my bogey birds and Iwoudl be happy with the 2nd!!

TFS
 
nc_killie said:
Agree about lack of eye contact but this is oneof my bogey birds and Iwoudl be happy with the 2nd!!

TFS
Click to expand...
Ahh mate heart felt grats on your win fab image:cool::). Yeah pretty pleased with me bird on a stick, she sits there for ages on a chosen perch, baiting baiting me for a take off;),the min i put the lens down through exhaustion boom,sure she's messing with me:D. I think I'm being very lucky mate to have a chance with birds so used to folks especially togs..Despite the fact that they are common they are a tricky subject I feel : it's always been a rare thing for me personally to get a decent chance with Kez,considering they are all around us and not for lack of trying either so ,this last week has been a blast....

more to follow

HNY

Stu
 
Stuart Philpott said:
Ahh mate heart felt grats on your win fab image:cool::). Yeah pretty pleased with me bird on a stick, she sits there for ages on a chosen perch, baiting baiting me for a take off;),the min i put the lens down through exhaustion boom,sure she's messing with me:D. I think I'm being very lucky mate to have a chance with birds so used to folks especially togs..Despite the fact that they are common they are a tricky subject I feel : it's always been a rare thing for me personally to get a decent chance with Kez,considering they are all around us and not for lack of trying either so ,this last week has been a blast....

more to follow

HNY

Stu
Click to expand...

Thanks. I wish they were common around here.Quite rare now and very elusive, at least they are to me!

All teh best for 2017!
 
Some more : I seem to spend ages stood under a tree with a kes up top trying to hold a lens up waiting for something to happen . Here is one case where she did do something different: itchy toe leastways I think is cause of the behaviour that's what she semmed to be sorting out:D

Frame is not cropped same gear used in all images 1/3200 f5.6 iso 1600

_70F0874 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

One of my rare images of Kez hovering with a hilight in the eye,cropped to portrait as i'd mucked up the framing. After the posts above I had a right good look through what we have amassed so far,and so few of my efforts have light in the eye it is really astounding Obviously the angle of wind and my pov to the bird all relative to the sun effect this but Mikes point above echoed by NC really made me ponder. It's certainly something i'll be more aware of in the future when trying to tackle this ace little hunter. Techs as above

_70F1298 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

Finally for the mo one of the rare times I actually got somewhere near to a take off, shot. Man I find these hard to get. The frame isn't cropped 1/1600 f5.6 iso 1600

_70F1339 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

seeya

Stu
 
Good stuff Stu. The second is my favourite in the new set, and its the dip of the head into the light that makes all the difference. It's let the light fall into the right area and has given the eye some life. It goes to show that if you're getting things right in camera you can crop that little bit harder if needed - this is still a nice sharp shot.

No.1 has some interest with the pose, but whilst certainly not a delete, not my favourite pose.

The 3rd has been well caught, and is not an easy shot by any stretch, but the branches are a bit messy for my taste - others will have differing opinions I'm sure.

Watch out for that dust bunny - shot 2 an inch from the top, just right of centre shows it off best.

Keep them coming, the presentation is getting a lot better.

Mike
 
Mike thanks again still to reply privatey but cheers.

I should be able to see a bit clearer soon monitor coming but here really I overlooked the eye ,lesson learnt Mike ,So many frames with that intense head down stare. though. On 1) I like the light on her foot mate makes me smile,but seriously I have 8 or so frames here of wings asunder i'm finding critical evaluation of these groups of shots really hard Mike hopefully I might be able to see better soon but which wing postition appeals and which to present is something I am very unsure on.......,getting the chance is cool though :)!!

Oh, on 2).... I can't see sharp Mike:( same as the deer wondered on IQ
I know about the bunny mate well spotted it's been there a while but so far not noticed I have to get educated on sensor cleaning mate !!. . Frankly the rig was meant to be going to canon before chrimbo but hours worked (moronic) meant I couldn't get to them ,but I need to learn this skill devoid of that Mike.

3 by god mate that one is hard,I go up she goes down;) I read the wind she does too only better:(,lmao ahh the joy of trying mate:D ha she did me for twenty mins the other day the arms folded off she went:),she's tree hunting as well as the normal method. any advice on improving gladly taken center point? It's so damn fast Mike and so damn close:rolleyes:
two things mate she is so close and a penny is starting to drop on how close that really is when one is shooting at 300/420 my gear comes to life when close. Second how rare close chances can be.proper lucky here though.

I probably have been a bit more aggresive in post Mike than ever before with these,but although the sun was too high for much of the time it was nice to shoot under it rather than grey,if there is anything improved in presentation I guess it will lie in those somewhere.

thanks mucker great crit cool points to make

take care

Stu
 
New monitor helps;)
Kez sat a top a haw.........shame just after this I elected to go up to 6.3,and some cool behaviour happened half way through me executing that, and sadly,just before I'd got my exposure set. Ha, the irony I'd have needed the 6.3 as she turned head on to me but just seconds more were needed,hey ho! shot is as framed /not cropped

_70F1108 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

A crop this one ,simply i'm too far away, but the closest I've got to grabbing a full bore stoop .Man it's hard trying to track something falling,it feels harder than side to side etc,dunno why,probably me:D. But which ever way one cuts it they are fast. I had the hammer down in this but got just 3 frames,so she was falling for something like a third of a second plus my reaction times just rough off the 1Div 10FPS. That's the wonder of wildlife isn't it wait for hours and the magic is over in under a second.:)


_70F0310 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

Stu
 
missed these Stu, wonderful images, very well done . I bet you are very pleased
 
Why thank you good sir. ,You good bro?

Ha ha it's this camo I'm always in I'm invisable Bill Little steps mate this monitor will help no end

A super chance Bill they are so cool, so bold ,pretty sure i'm shooting two of three,the male is not going to play well YET:). Yeah chuffed Bill I've really struggled to get to grips with Kes,when I get chances something is wrong mainly me:D(oft exposure) but other factors too, light wrong way, branches too distant the usual. So in many ways this little spat is hard won but by god I've enjoyed it mate:cool:
So many behaviours ground hunting tree hunting besides the traditional hovering Bill,it
Bill a tremendous learning tool to take lots of images of a stunning subject and then repeat for a few days Been loverly to have a bit of time and get me head down with the camera mate really has,bloody grey looks like it has me stumped for tomorrow .
Cheers for all the help mucker

take care

Stu
 
Stuart I too love Kestrels. All these cracking images have inspired me to get out and try some more:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:. I really like the unusual foot in the air shot its as if you were getting the thumb up:eek::D
 
Thanks Charlie i'm only learning mate so the words are very kind,tricky subject Charles,see if you can find one that likes people:) Ha I like those more unusual shoots too,I love how the light hits that foot. Really funny to watch and a joy to photograph that little moment.

Charles we spent an afternoon with them yesterday horrible light, grey, wet and miserable. The guys weren't hunting much but 4 times one flew up and landed in a tree besides us and we were moving about,quite remarkable really ,sure we are in camo but we are not hidden.

. It was essentially a sorte to be with them and shoot high iso,I feel being about will keep them used to me, so important, and as a tog learning the images will be invaluable although few might be kept. Mate pushing the iso is something I'm being steered towards to keep Ss up . Here in blighty with the light so often rubbish I'm really trying to find out where the max I can go and still get a chance of good IQ is. I've much to learn and feel getting the exposure smack on and no cropping is crucial, but real interesting digging through a couple of hundred frames taken in the field in real world conditions of an actual live subject . I'm really glad we went although few if any are keepers the lessons learnt will help me no end

take care

Stu
 
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