The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I love Kestrels and so was thrilled to capture this moment, but truth be told, this shot is not all that tough to get. All morning long, the female Kestrels at the Big Morongo Preserve find a high perch, settle there and wait for the busy males to notice. So if you spot a perched female, you don’t have to wait long for a male to arrive and the mating to begin. Unlike other birds, this colorful mating lasts long enough to fire off a couple of dozen shots. Later in the season, the females also sit on high perches, but for that phase, they’re waiting for the males to bring them lizards and other food.
Specific Feedback
I was using a rented Nikon Z 180-600 MM (which I’m considering buying) on a monopod in great light, but I was still too far away for great sharpness. So the question becomes, how much sky to include? The more negative space around the birds, the less the feather detail matters. Too little and the softness is revealed. But too much and the subject gets lost in the frame. A friend worked on the shot and improved the sharpness a bit, but didn’t transform things.
Technical Details
Nikon Z6II, F6.3, 1/3200th, ISO 1000, 500MM. I had been walking around in the trees, chasing woodpeckers, dealing with shade. Now that I look at these settings, I realize that when I saw the Kestrel opportunity, I failed to re-set for excellent light and less movement (than in flight, for example). Nor did I have the tele fully extended. Maybe should have been 1/2500th, ISO 500, F8, 600MM! Considering the chances that the Kestrels will give me another opportunity in the exact same conditions, I will have to try again.
Trying again (and again…) is part of this game, James. A very cool shot. I’ve never been anywhere where there are enough Kestrels around that they exhibit this kind of behavior, so that’s an interesting phenomenon to me.
I think I’d back off on the blue sky intensity. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite that deep a blue before. You might also see if there’s any detail to be recovered in the bright side of the perch. Other than that I think you pulled this off very well.
Excellent capture, James. A really good look at both birds. Agree with the thoughts of Dennis and Mark. This is a good example of understanding bird behavior in getting a good shot. Just by chance, I had a similar shot (not as good as yours) several years ago when visiting Big Morongo.
Much appreciated Allen.
I’ve just rented a 1.4X teleconverter to put on my Z100-400 to see if I can get better results than I did with the Z180-600. I have already concluded that the Z100-400 is sharper than the Z180-600, lacking the reach of course.
Now all I need is some cooperative Kestrels. And if not that, some Sapsuckers, Bluebirds or Orioles out there for the teleconverter test.
Nice behavior which hopefully produces many more kestrels. The sky is very grainy, and highlights are way too bright. Believe it or not, controlling an overly saturated bright blue sky is challenging to edit. Use hue and saturation saturation in photoshop for cyans and blues. Go slowly until it looks about right. Hopefully, you should be able to back to the RAW file for the recommended edits…Jim
Hi James. I always to the subjects and background separately. I don’t know what software you’re using , but all of them should let you select them separately to make adjustments.
Just tried a re-edit Dennis and that’s the right way. I’m able to work on separate areas in On1.
Sky was actually fine out of the camera until I overtweaked it.
Birds, however, were quite distant so while it is a great capture it will always be a bit soft.
