p.1 #1 · When the sun was low at the end of the day
This female American kestrel just landed on a perch. There are 4-5 perches in her territory that she uses frequently either on the lookout for prey or when enjoying a meal she just caught. This particular perch is the best photographically as the background is made up of semi-dry reeds of a marsh and far away from the perch. And the timing was basically perfect as the sun was low, low enough to cast orangey colors. She stayed on the perch for several minutes, she looked around and she cleaned both of her claws then, all the sudden she took off.
I used two different setups; the first 3 images were taken with a higher MP camera and a long lens plus a 2X TC. I anticipated that she would fly away from the perch and I felt the need to change my gear to get a slightly wider coverage and a faster tracking and camera to keep up with the speed of the kestrel for the last 6 images. The sun was even lower by the time the kestrel took off and there was less than 10 minutes between the two batches. am glad I did it as even using a wider coverage I ended up clipping one of the wings a little. Oh, well.
Thank you very much for stopping by and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
p.1 #12 · When the sun was low at the end of the day
dallvr wrote:
Terrific set, Joshua! Thanks for explaining your two camera/lens setup for these photos. All great photos, of which #s 7 and 5 are my favorites.
Thank you very much, Shirley! Yes, that’s my “greedy” setup there . You can tell the difference fairly easily in the resulting bokeh.
vphan wrote:
Awesome set Joshua! TFS
Vince
Thank you very much, Vince! I captured images of her catching/eating insect. I am waiting for the day when she catches a mouse, like in your images...
p.1 #19 · When the sun was low at the end of the day
photonoclast wrote:
This is a wonderful set! Almost color monochrome. To me, #6 and #9 would be interesting candidates for a black & white conversion.
Thank you very much, photonoclast! I will give your idea a try.
louie champan wrote:
Top notch set of images Joshua, love those creamy backgrounds.
Thank you very much, Louie! That perch is the best for us photographers. I noticed that the female kestrel would bring its prey to the closest perch to be consumed where it was caught, at least most of the time.
lighthound wrote:
Wow! These are super nice Joshua! Love that golden light. Kudos for thinking ahead and getting ready with the wider gear.
Dave
Thank you very much, Dave! To be honest, the main reason for me to switch gear had to do more with my confidence level of being able to handle 1,200mm and to track a fast flying kestrel but I appreciate your giving me that credit though . Plus, the camera I used for tracking has a better AF performance.
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Here are two more images of the female kestrel at two other perches. The first one is actually lower in height than the perch in the first 9 images but to be able to get fairly close to that I have to go down the slope, resulting in an upward aim of the lens. The second image shows her main perch on the top of the tree higher on the bluff. She spends a considerable time up there on the look out for insect/mouse movement on the ground. It is obvious why I prefer the first perch.
. You can tell the difference fairly easily in the resulting bokeh.
