American Kestrel & Repost

Repost: Pushing the pixels


Alternate Crop

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Our Camera Club had a field trip to a popular wildlife refuge yesterday. I tend to avoid it on weekends because it’s so popular, but went for the social aspect. This Kestrel was extremely small in the frame and when cropping there was plenty of room above and below her, so I did two alternate crops.

Specific Feedback

I’m interested in which crop works better for your taste and, if you can elucidate it, why.

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, handheld from car, f/9, 1/6400, iso 1250. Processed in LR & PS CC. Both versions cropped to roughly 3900x2800 pixels. Taken at 12:29 pm yesterday.


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A wonderful catch with great lighting and a lovely BG. I like the bit of sky and the soft focus on the trees is very nice. But the bird feels too lost in the frame. I’d suggest another option, with a bit of added canvas on the left if you’re wedded to the aspect ratio.

Thanks, Diane. I reprocessed to include more of the area on the left and cropped as tightly as it felt comfortable given maintaining a semblance of image quality in the Kestrel.

Hi, Dennis - the image quality looks fine at your crop. I like Diane’s suggestion of a bit more room on the left.
ANY catch of kestrel, especially in flight, is pretty cool.

Dennis,

I like the top crop of the three. That one might be the rework you already did, but it seems the most balanced. I am fond of kestrels.

A love to see a good image get better.

The top image is wonderful.

Good job on the repost with a better look at the kestrel, but still giving it room to fly and showing the environment. For me, this is a “WOW” photo as getting a kestrel in flight is a difficult job and with the head turn and great details: Kudos.

Hi Dennis
My favorite of the three are the first and third. Number two would work if background was more in focus. Nice detail on this Kestrel.
Peter

Very nice set of images, Dennis. I like the last two images in your set more where the kestrel is a little more off-center. Even though it looks small in the frame, it is sharp and there is plenty of detail available in the full-size image. Great job nailing it in flight and against a nice backdrop.