![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/american-kestrel-1354-horizontal-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-kestrel-1354-horizontal-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nYesterday morning I finally found a few interesting birds in good light. I’m presenting this one in two different compositions because I can’t decide which one I prefer.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n When I first approached the kestrel he was facing me on the perch but he soon demonstrated that he was a skilled multitasker by making more than a 90\u00b0 turn to his right on the perch at the same time he was stretching both wings and his tail. It’s a trickier maneuver than one might think because he had to move his feet to different places on that snaggly perch during the turn and he was stretching his wings and tail the entire time. He was careful, doing it slowly and deliberately, but he got it done without any slip-ups<\/p>\n I like his concentration on the complex task, the wing position and even the spread tail behind the hanging seed pods because I think that combination creates an interesting visual.<\/p>\n But I’m not so sure about the composition. It’s not bad but the bare twigs to the left don’t do a lot for me and I’d like to see slightly better detail on the little falcon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n So I tried a vertical crop because it loses many of those bare twigs and has better detail on the bird but this version seems a little tight to me so I’m still undecided. I think both compositions have strengths and weaknesses. One of the details I like seeing better in this version is the alula on the left wing but in both versions I really wish those two twigs weren’t directly in front of his face.<\/p>\n In nature and in bird photography, twigs happen.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS – I took quite a few interesting shots of this kestrel but didn’t have time to work many of them up for this post so I’ll probably publish a few more of them sometime in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday morning I finally found a few interesting birds in good light. I’m presenting this one in two different compositions because I can’t decide which one I prefer.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/american-kestrel-1354-vertical-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-kestrel-1354-vertical-ron-dudley\\"")
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