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Red Kite
Red Kite
inshaala


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2007-12 (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-30D
Lens: Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX APO IF HSM for Canon
Location: Bird of Prey Centre, Gloucestershire, UK
Date: Dec 20, 2007
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/1000
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Dec 23, 2007

 Shot, not in the wild - unfortunately (although they are on the rise here in the UK) - but at the National BOP centre near Gloucester, UK. Was just about to dig into a dead chick :)

Post:
RAW Conversion -> Photoshop
Crop
Shadow/Highlight
Cloned out a hair/feather on the tip of his beak.
Selective de-noising using Imagenomic Noiseware-Pro
Dodge - Burn
Levels
Selective Curves on Eye and eyelid.
Curves
Flatten
Resize
USM x2


Post Challenge:

Thanks for the feedback - i had actually made a square crop to give it more impact and take out the neg space to the left (it was originally cropped like that to put the eye on the 3rds) but forgot to upload it for some reason - whether that was good or bad i will never know as it seemed some people like it as is.

And one thing which really put a smile on my face today was that although it is by a hair's breadth, i just beat Larus in a Free Study! :)

Statistics
Place: 12 out of 429
Avg (all users): 6.8107
Avg (commenters): 8.1538
Avg (participants): 6.8611
Avg (non-participants): 6.7213
Views since voting: 4639
Views during voting: 284
Votes: 169
Comments: 15
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 05/11/2008 06:20:45 PM
I love all Raptors. This is a great capture of a truely magnificent bird.. nice one!
 02/03/2008 03:54:11 PM
Incredibly sharp shot, love the bokeh here as well. You've done a great job here, great capture, very nicely done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/06/2008 10:03:24 PM
nice sharp image. love the soft background. i see a little burning in the green around the top beak, not too bad though. overall i like this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/06/2008 04:24:01 PM
Wow - great close up! Fantastic catch of the open beak and no background distractions. Good luck in the challenge. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/06/2008 01:36:08 PM
Sharp, nice close-up :) I like the green background :) Well done :)
 01/06/2008 10:27:12 AM
Back to comment. I really enjoy taking photos of birds of prey and know that taking truly succesful ones, even where the birds are captive, is not a given. You have captured the perfect moment here with the bird showing a strong degree of intensity. Focus, composition and depth of field are all good. 10 from me.

On a side note, I was lucky to see a Red Kite in the wild as I was driving a few weeks ago; I pulled over and watched for a while, bit sadly didn't have my long lens with me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2008 01:26:37 PM
perfect framing on the moment. good luck 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2008 12:10:26 AM
great detail and love how you framed the shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/04/2008 11:06:16 AM
This is different from a static bird portrait, I like it :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/04/2008 07:32:47 AM
I think a little bit more contrast on the head makes a 10. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2008 07:17:38 AM
Great shot, seems like wasted space on the left though. Crystal clarity on the subject. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 07:32:05 PM
Great detailed capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 10:55:22 AM
You've captured just the right moment. It's a pity we can't see more of the bird - I think a lighter crop to loose more of the background would help.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 06:09:42 AM
excellent details and crispness
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 05:38:04 AM
amazing image!


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