Kestrel

Rohirrim

I've been trying to get a shot of a Kestrel for some time now, my previous shots were always at a distance and didn't come out that great. They are pretty skittish birds ( at least in this area). I finally got close enough to this one to get a halfway decent shot, although I still need to get closer to get a really good one.

To capture this bird I noted that there are 2 or 3 that tend to perch on the power lines near my house. I look for them every morning on the way home but this was the first time one didn't take off. I stayed in the car and slowly maneuvered my way to get closer. Tried not let him see me in the car as I took shots of him.

Shot with a Canon 20D, Canon 100-400mmL, hand held- but resting on the edge of the car window.

PP: RAW conversion with Capture One, then PSCS2, LAB mode, a-b curves 20 point, slight tweak on the L curve for some added contrast. Sharpened the L channel. Used layer mask on the Curves Layer and the Sharpened Layer. If your interested in more details on the PP let me know.


EXIF

Thanks for looking and I hope I didn't bore you with the details :scratch

bfjr

Excellent Steve
not bored at all
The ones I've shot pretty needed the same approach

Harryb

Outstanding


A shot you should be proud of.

Rohirrim

Thanks Ben and Harry. I appreciate your opinions.

jwear

excellent shot Steve .the small ones are even harder to shot and faster to fly great job the thrill of the hunt but when it ends in a capture very nice color

gus

Very nice steve Beautiful colour.

Rohirrim

Thank you Jeff and Humungous. I have to give some of the credit to PP, LAB mode has the uncanny ability to really bring out subtle colors.