Kestrel on a pole

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

KESTREL.jpg
KESTREL.jpg1243×1409 592 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

There’s an old country road I like to drive on looking for birds to photograph, especially if I find one perched on top of one the ancient roadside utility poles. I caught this female kestrel posing for me (I shot it from the car window. If I would’ve crawled out, I am sure she would’ve bolted. They are pretty skittish)

Specific Feedback

Cropping? Sky color?

Technical Details

D500, 200-500 lens, hand held, 1/4000th, f 8.0, 1050mm, ISO 1800, cropped to 1858 x 2107

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2

Nice detail in the Kestrel, Dave. That steep angle is a bit of a bummer, but sometimes you can’t do any better. With the huge sensor resolutions these days, I’ve started stopping further away to try to get as shallow an angle as is reasonable.

3

Good detail and colors in the kestrel. Agree with Dennis’s comment on the angle, but sometimes that’s all the bird gives you. Hard to say, but maybe a little less blue in the sky.

4

Nice, sharp kestrel with a fine backwards glance. Agree with comments on the shooting angle. Still, a fine catch of a very tough to get subject.

5

Nice capture, with good detail and an interesting perch that goes well with the bird, but I would bring down the blue saturation quite a bit.