Kestrel hunting

Photo of the Week 

Photo Information
I shot this image a couple of days ago.
Driving along a local road I saw this Kestrel hovering fairly close to the roadside. I had my K3iii and DA*300mm in the car with me, so I pulled over. The bird was kind enough to stay long enough for me to get off a few shots.
The light was abysmal, very dull and flat, so I've had to do a lot of recovery of shadows etc.. I'm quite pleased with the result considering the conditions.
10/03/2023 - 12:43malfis
CategoryWildlife / Nature
Shutter Speed1/2500
Aperturef/6.3
ISO640
Focal Length300mm
Views/Likes69/4

loadoftripe

Link Posted 10/03/2023 - 17:15
Cracking pic. That is super sharp, well done. So sharp I thought you had used AI or something? Topaz, etc.

malfis

Link Posted 10/03/2023 - 18:29
loadoftripe wrote:
Cracking pic. That is super sharp, well done. So sharp I thought you had used AI or something? Topaz, etc.

I used Topaz noise reduction, but not sharpening. In my experience of Denoise, the cleaning up of the image also applies slight sharpening to offset the effects of denoising the image.
My copy of the DA*300 is incredibly sharp - even with the 1.4 t/c. I love the lens.
Lots of gear - but not a lot of idea!

davidrobinson

Link Posted 10/03/2023 - 23:05
Excellent photo of a lovely little bird of prey, not easy to get one in flight they dont hang about long once they see a camera.

GIULIO57

Link Posted 13/03/2023 - 15:04
A well deserved POTW
PPG

malfis

Link Posted 13/03/2023 - 22:51
Thank you for your kind comments.
Lots of gear - but not a lot of idea!

pauljay

Link Posted 14/03/2023 - 10:27
Kestrels will stay up there all day long in hover mode and, as I've noticed around these parts, they'll let you get reasonably close, as opposed to buzzards who don't let you get within 100m! Nice shot!
Paul.

Photography is not a sport. It has no rules. Everything must be dared and tried! (Bill Brandt)
PPG

davidtrout

Link Posted 16/03/2023 - 09:01
A well captured image and a worthy POTW. Apart from the original capture a lot of skill went into processing it.

David
PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout
Link Posted 16/03/2023 - 18:05
davidtrout wrote:
A well captured image and a worthy POTW. Apart from the original capture a lot of skill went into processing it.

David

+1 and re. processing skill - definitely.
Be well, stay safe.
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