Blackshoulder Kite & it's dinner

[Mitcon]

Not the best photos sorry but it was very dark and overcast. These were taken down the road in a reserve early this morning. Hope the photos aren't to bad for your enjoyment. I think it was f8 or f9 500mm about 1/640 and iso might have been 1600.

[EOSAddict]

WOW iso 1600? pretty good! Another 'attaboy' for the Bigma!

[Wayne Wood]

awesome pics I enjoyed them very much thanx for posting them

[Mitcon]

I am really enjoying the reach of the Bigma. I can't wait for spring and decent light to come :D

[FotOz]

Mitcon. Talk to me. I note the size of your images here and am wondering how you get them this size as attachments. I see you're using a 350D. I run a 300D. What was the original size of the file, and how far did you have to reduce it to get it on here? I have a sh!t load of shots from the Western Plains Zoo that are 50Mb+, and to reduce them to the acceptable limits for the site I end up with 1cm square thumbnails. BTW - fantastic shots. Absolutely superb.

[Reigh Higgins]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

[RockOne]

Great pics.

[Mitcon]

I think most were around the 5-7mb per image depending on if I shot JPEG or Raw. I use an old version of paint shop pro version 4 or 5 I think, I just crop a little to get a better composure. Then resize the photo to 800x600 pixels or whatever size keeps the right ratio with the longest side being no more than 800 pixels. I try not to sharpen too much as the noise makes the file larger with information also.

Then when saving as a jpeg I compress quite heavy, look for the options when you save as a jpeg and there should be a high to low quality setting. Just select the amount of quality/compression you need to get the end file size down to what your after.

[EOSAddict]

Mitcon. Talk to me. I note the size of your images here and am wondering how you get them this size as attachments. I see you're using a 350D. I run a 300D. What was the original size of the file, and how far did you have to reduce it to get it on here? I have a sh!t load of shots from the Western Plains Zoo that are 50Mb+, and to reduce them to the acceptable limits for the site I end up with 1cm square thumbnails. BTW - fantastic shots. Absolutely superb.

What app are you using? I believe PS/PSE has a n option to resize to a specific file size (ie to meet the forum 100k limit).

[FotOz]

Mitcon. I'm using PS7 and have all those options and am using them. I think I'll just have to copy my top-shots to another folder for re-sizing so I can post them. My bigMb files that I re-size to 800 on the long side I find I have to get down to about 200 to get below 100kb. That's where my thumbnails come in. It's all a good learning experience as far as re-sizing and web work etc.
I used to be on another site that wouldn't take anything under 1Mb and the max was 4Mb. Got sick of the site - the admin was a goose.
Steve
PS - You say you're in Oz. Any clue with at least the state (city & town maybe?)
I'm in Dubbo NSW.

[robertwgross]

That may be the same bird as what we (in North America) call the White-tailed Kite, Elanus leucurus. I found it fascinating to watch them through a very long lens, especially when they eat their prey. If the bird sees you and doesn't like you, it will attack in a bluff charge. That is when you get to see if your camera's continuous shooting autofocus modes work.

---Bob Gross---

[Ballen Photo]

Rodent Ala Cart? Nice catches, both yours and the Kite's. ;) :D
-Bruce

[CyberDyneSystems]

Wow.. excellent shots! what a fantastic bird :)

[Mitcon]

FotOz I'm located in Adelaide.

Bob, yes the Elanus Leucurus and also the Elanus Scriptus are quite often refered to as as a black shouldered kite and I think all 3 are quite often called white tailed kites but they are slightly different. The black shouldered kite is Elanus Axillaris, but they are all such close cousins and do all look very simular.