kestrel first post

Hi,

I stumbled onto this site about a month ago and have been addicted to it ever since. I have enjoyed all the great images others have shared, but this is my first post. I saw some kestrel pics earlier today and I decided to post this one.

I am in the USCG (Coast Guard) and was deployed for a couple weeks to the Bahamas last year. In my off time I took my 20D and 100-400L out to try and capture some of the local birds. There was a pair of kestrels that was very cooperative and let me photograph them for a long time. Here is a pic of the male. This shot was taken with the 100-400L and the 2x teleconverter (borrowed from a friend). I would have been better off without the converter as I lost auto focus and the combo was not fast enough to catch the action shots. I still had fun. I hope you enjoy the pics. C+C welcome (and appreciated). Thanks.

Aperature Priority Mode 800mm f11, Manual focus, ISO 100 (only post processing was slight cropping, removal of some dust specs, and addition of name.)

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This is excellent......100-400 and 2XTC.....you must have a very sharp eye to have MF-ed so well.

Wow, awesome pics and using a 2x converter manual focusing...I still have much to learn indeed Great exposure as well.

I'm still looking for my first Kestrel pic, I spotted one a few weeks ago but he was too far off.

Nice photos, and welcome to the forums Mark.

Great job Mdukti, what/which make TC were you using & cam speed

What a wonderful shot and you did a great job with the MF.
Welcome to the forum. I'll be looking for more fine images from you.

Hi,

Thanks for the kind words. It is interesting when you post something for the first time. I was very anxious to see how the pic would be received.

The teleconverter was the canon EF2x extender, the shutterspeed was 1/125. Also, I have to post a correction. Photo was at 620mm not 800mm. Lens was not zoomed all the way in(I caught that when I was looking up the shutterspeed). Also, original picture was a RAW file converted to JPEG.

And I am not necessarily recommending this conbination. I took alot a shots and had only a handful of sharp images.

Thanks again for looking.

Beautifull shots of a real high performance flyer!

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nice images Mark and welcome to the forum

Wow, excellent.

Welcome and what a lovely capture of a beautiful little raptor. Very good work.

Another Welcome to the Forum Mark and this is a great capture. That lens is great. I have the 2xTC and found it somewhat degrading to the image. Yours doesn't seem to show any major degradations. Well done.

Cracking shot @ 800mm with MF

this is an excellent shot!! MF!! unbelievable! nice One!

Great job. Welcome to the board. Can't wait to see more from you...Love em both