Kestrals chasing a bug

Gallery: AvianPosted April 16, 2011256 views11 comments

Nikon D300s
200-400 @ 400
Hand held
F/4.5
1/2000
Aperature Priority
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO 400
Metering Mode Pattern
White Balance Auto
Taken in July of last year
Cropprd 70%

Another heavily cropped image. This shot was taken last summer and I had forgotten about it. Was cleaning out many old files and came across it and thought I would share it. This is two young Kestrals chasing a bug (black dot in the foreground). I really like the wings and tail positions of both birds. I thought this was kind of funny watching these two chase around a bug. I believe they are very young, perhaps learning to hunt. I hope this holds up with the crop. Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on April 16, 2011 at 3:29 PM

Neat shot David, I like the action you caught! Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on April 16, 2011 at 3:37 PM

Neat action. Crop looks good. I like the subtle differences in wing and head positions.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on April 16, 2011 at 3:52 PM

Really great shot David - the kestrels are sharp and the action is wonderful.

One tiny bug for two birds, gotta be juveniles. Did you happen to get a shot of them sharing the bug later?

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on April 16, 2011 at 4:31 PM

Looks good to me i really enjoy looking at it.

Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on April 16, 2011 at 6:47 PM

That's it David, stop hiding the good ones from me. I have yet to come close to getting one kestrel in flight and here you got two at the same time. I like the open compositon, it gives a feeling of what these young kestrels have to put up with. The bug does look a little soft. LOL

See you around. Eric and I are at BC in the morning.

Harry

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on April 16, 2011 at 10:02 PM

Neat photo, David. I like the way that the ground fades into the background. Nice action, good light and reasonably sharp.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 17, 2011 at 12:34 AM

What a great image David! It would already have had plenty of appeal for me if were just of the two Kestrels flying in sync, but the having sight of that bug and knowing that's what they were chasing makes it all the more fantastic ...... if I find out that you glued that bug in for extra interest though ...... LOL jes' playin' witcha' ;^p

Despite the large crop I don't see too much deterioration, and I really thing the DOF you have on that sandy ground perfectly compliments the colours of the subjects, very well done, a shot to be proud of IMO :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 17, 2011 at 12:54 AM

Not much loss of detail at all. Very cool action shot, and I also like the way the horizon and the ground blend together.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 17, 2011 at 4:30 AM

David - AWESOME shot!! Wow...this must have been cool to witness and photograph, and my goodness did you ever do a great job of photogrpahing this! Great wing position and intense looks from the kestrals. Honestly the image is just so cool on its own it's hard to attempt any kind of critique on it! I love the similarity in colours between the underside of the kestrals and the environment you've shown. It makes the image so clean and strong. You nailed the DOF and all the other techs, and it looks great as presented. I might play with the same crop amount with several different options for positioning of the subjects, but as I do so in my mind I keep thinking I really like this as-is. I guess I'd be tempted to at least see what it looks like moving the kestrals further to the left side of the image because of their strong "lean" to our right.

Bottom line for me is this is just a killer shot I really hope to have some variation of in my own files sometime down the road.

Great job!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 17, 2011 at 8:12 AM

Fun shot David, love the wing positions and how focused the kestrels are on the bug.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on April 17, 2011 at 6:17 PM

Amazing action! Like the color in the background.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments