Our peregrine falcons’ mating activities have slowed down somewhat and they are sitting on eggs now. In a month, we will see activities to pick up again when there are more mouths to be fed. Meanwhile, it is a time to process some of the photographs so far. I am really happy with how this one turns out. The background is the pebbles on the beach (see: How some SoCal beaches really look like). This is mom doing her fly by’s.
As an aviation geek, I can’t help but notice some interesting observations here. Firstly, the trailing edges of both wings near the body is mimicking the aileron on aircraft. If you notice the trailing edge on the right wing, it is a little lower than the body line and on the left wing, it is slightly above the body line; which results in lift differential and thus the turn. Secondly, notice that the left wing tip (the primary) is slightly lifted. I am thinking that this is some sort of air brake that helps with coordinated turns (again, there is that analogy with aircraft).
Pertinent technical details or techniques to help others.
Nikon D500, Sigma 500 f/4 lens at f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 400. A slight crop from 20MP to about 12MP, in PS lowered the contrast in the BG using mask.