Shooting Bird of Prey

[FDCPR]

I thought I would post a little different type of post and give some insight into shooting this type of subject. Shooting birds in the wild involves using different methods depending on the species one is trying to shoot. I have had success shooting American Kestrels using the following method.
I begin by standing on a large hill overlooking a large area these birds visit to feed in. I then use binoculars to scan the tree tops to locate one of these guys. A lot of days are dry runs and they are not around when I am. In my particular area they seem to be feeding in the mid-afternoon and not in the area much later or earlier.
If I locate the bird, I normally will take an initial shot prior to moving closer. Such as below, this is pretty much SOC and no cropping. I take these shots just to have a record in case I cannot get in closer to the subject.


Now I began moving slowly closer, stopping along the way to capture images as I don't know when they will decide to move on. Here is the next version... and cropped fairly tight.


Moving on and taking advantage of any cover available to hide my progress. Even closer and cropped.


Still slowly moving closer, this is one of the final images before the Kestrel decided I was too close. In this shot there was a white cloud behind the bird that I basically had to over expose to get the shot of the bird. Between the first shot here and this last shot is 243 images. I need to go through these more to see if there are better shots, but for this post you get the idea and by the way this is a full sized photo as I was close enough no cropping was necessary.

[Hayward Taylor]

Hi Fred - thanks for the tips -- these are super photos

[sheltiesmama]

Wow! Great captures!

[FDCPR]

Originally Posted by Hayward Taylor

Hi Fred - thanks for the tips -- these are super photos

Thanks Hayward, I hope you can take something from this.

Originally Posted by sheltiesmama

Wow! Great captures!

Thanks for looking.

[architkataria]

Great captures! TFS.

[jennie]

..your efforts were rewarded..these are fantastic shots Fred..i like the 2nd and the last one..glad you crept in to get that tight shot..tnx for the tutorial too..DPS is really a nice place to learn..

[bfischer]

very helpful ideas... I had no idea it may take 243 to get those few good ones... thanks for the tips, definitely going to try sometime (once the birds migrate back)

[leonaashlee]

Wonderful shots Fred....interesting birds.

[FDCPR]

Originally Posted by architkataria

Great captures! TFS.

Thanks architkataria, glad you like these shots.

Originally Posted by jennie

..your efforts were rewarded..these are fantastic shots Fred..i like the 2nd and the last one..glad you crept in to get that tight shot..tnx for the tutorial too..DPS is really a nice place to learn..

Thanks jennie, I try to get close but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes they just move on before I get close enough.

Originally Posted by bfischer

very helpful ideas... I had no idea it may take 243 to get those few good ones... thanks for the tips, definitely going to try sometime (once the birds migrate back)

Thanks bfischer, well it doesn't necessarily take all that many shots to get a few good ones. In this batch I deleted only 20 or so and mainly the longer shots. I take a lot because I am helping a group document what is in the area, and people that recognize birds much better than I do can look at multiple images at different angles. Then they try to decide if this is one that has been seen before or a new one to the area. Myself, I am too much of a rookie at birding to see a difference unless it is obvious and leave the determination to the experts.

Originally Posted by leonaashlee

Wonderful shots Fred....interesting birds.

Thanks leona, I remember seeing a post from you while I was at work that you are having some trouble with these guys. I hope they don't bother you too much.