Brahminy Kite in flight

[Sabyasachi Patra]

We found a few Brahminy Kites and Pariah kite (black kites) diving and I immediately parked the vehicle. They were diving and taking away chunks of flesh.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 1.4xII (ie. at 560mm), ISO 400, f6.3, 1/1600, EV: -2/3rd, Evaluative metering.

Look forward to your comments.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Great shot, but I find the upper right of the frame too empty. Maybe cropping to leave less space above the bird would solve that. Also, what caused the slight blur of the bird's left wing?

[AB Apana]

An interesting capture Sabyasachi, but the light is very harsh as is the BG. I also find that the trunk in the BG upsets the spatial balance in the image.

Apana

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Abhishek,
The shutter speed was 1/1600. The wing tips would have been sharp at 1/2500 and above. I knew but didn't bump up the ISO higher as I am normally not comfortable at ISO 800 in the 1D Mark II. I was trying to compose with more space at the top as they were taking off from the ground.

The light was very harsh. And I had a very small window through the vegetation to shoot. I had prefocussed on the area they were diving and had about only time for 2 shots after which the vegetation was blocking the view. As wildlife photographers, we hope for another day.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Kiran Ghadge]

thats nice shot. head on angle is always difficult. you have done gr8 job.
bokeh is little bit harsh, you can try neat image. also pulling back details in highlights would help

[Murugan Anantharaman]

interesting image....like the M-wing formation...it seems to be holding some flesh in its claws...agree that the trunk in the bg is a bit distracting...but then in the spur of the moment not everything can be perfect isnt it!!