![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/american-kestrel-1788-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOccasionally a situation with low potential can unexpectedly result in a nice flight shot, or\u00a0even\u00a0two.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I spent yesterday morning in remote Tooele and Utah Counties in a quest for raptors with moderate success. When I first encountered this male American Kestrel he was cuddling up to his apparent mate on a power pole but compared to the female\u00a0he was\u00a0quite shy – soon after I approached he flew\u00a0a couple of feet to a different part of the pole and hid behind\u00a0one of the cross beams.\u00a0He was apparently reluctant to leave his mate and insisted on playing peek-a-boo\u00a0with me as he mostly hid behind the beam.<\/p>\n I was hoping for take-off shots and figured my chances were best with the female since she was more in the open so I spent most of the time with my lens trained on her, suspecting that the male in his shyness\u00a0would take off away from me and behind the perch. Ironically I\u00a0captured the take-off of both birds but I liked the flight shots of the male best.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, small corner of perch removed,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Usually kestrels give little or no warning before they launch but something in his demeanor told me to put my lens on him and at that moment he took off. I’m reluctant to clone elements out of my images but this perch was ugly and bright so I made an exception in this case and removed a small portion of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Kestrel take-offs are so fast and explosive that I usually miss the bird entirely or at best clip or cut off body parts but this time I actually got two shots of the entire bird (I can thank the 10 frames\/sec burst rate of the Canon 7D Mark II for that).\u00a0But it was close. The bird was right at the edge of the left frame edge so I had to add a strip of canvas there for composition.<\/p>\n Recently I’ve lamented the low numbers of raptors in my area but this year kestrels seem to be a fortunate exception. I’m seeing more of them than usual in a variety of habitats and many of them already seem to be paired up for spring activities.<\/p>\n I’m delighted to see that hopeful sign\u00a0for the future.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 There’s been a lot of recent discussion on the web\u00a0about the\u00a0ethics of image manipulation (such as the cloning and canvas addition I’ve done here).\u00a0 Occasionally I’ll clone minor elements out of the\u00a0setting (never into the image) but I don’t alter the bird and I always disclose what I’ve done.\u00a0IMO, disclosure is paramount. But on the other hand I understand (and don’t necessarily disagree with)\u00a0the philosophy that any alteration beyond sharpening, tonal adjustments and dust spot removal is questionable in nature photography.\u00a0 It can be a fine line…\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Occasionally a situation with low potential can unexpectedly result in a nice flight shot, or even two.<\/p>\n![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/american-kestrel-1790-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/american-kestrel-1791-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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