Kestrel (Various shots)

htid

htid

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With me having to move house soon, not really had time to edit my shots from my recent trips to Cornwall and Dawlish. Getting bits at a time done, so here's a Kestrel taken at St Mawes in Cornwall. Overcast rainy day so not the best shots, except for the first which is clearly the standout shot, when the sun came out and we had a minute or two of perfect blue sky! All taken with the d500 and 300mm PF (such a great walkaround lens!)

Kestral 01 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr

Kestral 03 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr

Kestral 04 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr

Kestral 04 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr

Kestral 02 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr

Kestral 06 by Chris Cotton, on Flickr
 
Good captures Chris, I like its pose in #4 :)
 
gramps said:
Good captures Chris, I like its pose in #4 :)
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Me too. I wasn't going to post it because the head isn't separated enough from the wing, but I really liked the pose so put it in there anyway.
 
The details in these pictures are stunning. I love the pose in kestral 04. Amazing work.
 
That's a stunning set, superb! (y)

I was talking to a chap over the weekend who was using the 300 Pf with a 1.4x converter, very impressive and nicely compact!
 
Probably my favourite bird but I can't understand how you got so close with a 300mm
 
Thanks for the comments everybody!

Phil-D said:
That's a stunning set, superb! (y)

I was talking to a chap over the weekend who was using the 300 Pf with a 1.4x converter, very impressive and nicely compact!
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Yeah actually I forgot to mention it was with the 1.4tc. I wasn't sure if to get it when my previous 300mm (the previous model) was stolen, or if to just replace it with this. After reading and seeing all Bill's great shots, I was sold. Really glad I went for the PF version even if it was nearly £1000 more - so light and easy to carry around, especially after lugging around the 500f4!

wezza13 said:
These are ace shots, Chris. You should be very proud....I would be! (y)
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Thanks, I'm pretty happy with them, just a shame about the weather. If they were all like the first I'd be totally happy, but the blown sky in the rest of them (plus the accompanying lack of sunlight) makes them look quite dull compared to the first.

condyk said:
Probably my favourite bird but I can't understand how you got so close with a 300mm
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300mm + 1.4tc + crop body = 630mm :) My girlfriend and I were just sitting eating lunch on a bench and the kestrel just started hovering about 10m away. In fact I have photos where the bird was too big to even fit in the frame as it came right above us, but the angle looks rubbish so I got rid of them. I got one of it when it had landed too, but due to having +3 exposure comp and forgetting to change it back, I got a rubbish shutter speed and the photo was totally blurry...doh!
 
Really good images Chris ........ excellent detail and DOF ... very well taken shots

processing the bg on a couple of shots may have taken some of the "bite" (contrast) away from the bird
 
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BillN_33 said:
Really good images Chris ........ excellent detail and DOF ... very well taken shots

processing the bg on a couple of shots may have taken some of the "bite" (contrast) away from the bird
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Thanks Bill! Out of interest, how would you process the background? I agree with you and I'm capable of removing the background and making it anything I want, such as a perfectly blue sky, but I'm always wary about doing that as it seems like a step too far.
 
htid said:
Thanks Bill! Out of interest, how would you process the background? I agree with you and I'm capable of removing the background and making it anything I want, such as a perfectly blue sky, but I'm always wary about doing that as it seems like a step too far.
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I think that you just have to treat the bird completely separately from the bg and do not make any overall adjustment to the image that affects both ......... it looks like you have lightened the bg and taken anything, (or nothing) out of it ...... and the definition in the bird is weaker than it could be ....... it is a sharp image but the light coming through the bird has given it a kind of "light cast" ....... that could be improved by looking at the black and white points and shadows and highlights etc.......... I hardly ever use the clarity slider but a very small amount of "black" around each pixel may just help, but maybe not!


I have noticed with Kestrels that if you are not careful with processing that you can bring a slight green cast into the under wing top area

the images are really good ...... so it is not a criticism .... I just feel that you may be able to get more "punch" into the bird ... although I do realise that the light, shooting into the sky, makes for a difficult task

technically #1 is good ..........#4 just has that slight right wing movement because of the shutter speed
 
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BillN_33 said:
I think that you just have to treat the bird completely separately from the bg and do not make any overall adjustment to the image that affects both ......... it looks like you have lightened the bg and taken anything, (or nothing) out of it ...... and the definition in the bird is weaker than it could be ....... it is a sharp image but the light coming through the bird has given it a kind of "light cast" ....... that could be improved by looking at the black and white points and shadows and highlights etc.......... I hardly ever use the clarity slider but a very small amount of "black" around each pixel may just help, but maybe not!


I have noticed with Kestrels that if you are not careful with processing that you can bring a slight green cast into the under wing top area

the images are really good ...... so it is not a criticism .... I just feel that you may be able to get more "punch" into the bird ... although I do realise that the light, shooting into the sky, makes for a difficult task

technically #1 is good ..........#4 just has that slight right wing movement because of the shutter speed
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Totally agree with everything you've said, don't worry :) They really do lack punch and I was playing around trying to get the white sky ones better, but couldn't manage it and accepted bad lighting = less than perfect shot. Maybe I could get more out of them and I've seen mention of this black and white points things but I don't know what you mean. Any tutorials you know of? I just use ACR and slide the shadow/highlight/black/white sliders until I think they look as good as I can get them.
 
great shots
with such a bland looking sky did you use matrix or spot metering and a +2 stops ev ??
 
holty said:
great shots
with such a bland looking sky did you use matrix or spot metering and a +2 stops ev ??
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centre weighted and +3...the sky really was just light grey and boring except for the few minutes when the blue sky came out.
 
oh very nice and a tad jealous the amount of time I have spent trying for a decent Kestrel photo and it just flies over for you what a glorious moment
 
Go to St Mawes castle, they've been there both times I've visited! We started there and he/she (I can't sex kestrels) came and started hunting, we went away for two hours, came back and it was still there!
 
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Some lovely shots Chris.

Also, seems as if you have a nice combo of camera/lens there, seems to be working great. Something good may have come out of the horrible experience you suffered with the theft of your old gear and nice to see you posting some photos again(y).
 
Thanks Simon :) Yeah I don't think I'd have got the d500 if my d7200 hadn't been stolen! I have a backlog of photos but I've just not gotten around to editing them yet, so hopefully I'll have some more soon!
 
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