Red Kite

[ChrisH]

I have been trying to make a half decent image of a Red Kite on the wing for some time.

Last Sunday during a break in the bad weather, we ventured on a walk with some friends onto Watlington Hill. Watlington Hill sits high on an escarpment on the edge of the Chilterns overlooking the Vale of Oxford and is where Kites can be found taking advantage of the thermals created by the topography.

The edges of the wings and the tail feathers look slightly flared, but I think this is a result of the bright sunlight at the edge of semi translucent feathers. I am not sure whether to attempt to edit this out or leave as is. What do you guys think?



Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/1250 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 200.0m

[Donald]

Superb capture, Chris.

I note what you see re the brightness at the end of the wing feathers and the tail and I think that's fine. But, in addition to that, I wondered if there was a bit of haloing? If you look at the back edge of the wing feathers closer into the bird's body, there doesn't seem to be translucence, but there does seem to be some haloing (you and others may disagree with that).

Don't know how much sharpening you did on this, but am wondering what it would be like just to screw back a bit on that?

It is certainly worth a lot of attention. It's a beauty.

[ChrisH]

Thanks Donald. I have had another goto try and avoid the haloing and just to soften the feathers a little. What do you think?

[Donald]

That works for me. It's good to click on one to open it up in the lightbox and then to toggle between the two.

It's not just the haloing that this has addressed, but I think the overall impact has been beneficial.

[Geoff F]

Yes the second version looks far more natural. The first one seems as though it was a pasted in job.

[jiro]

Looks like a case of Chromatic Aberration issue to me, Chris. The capture was great. I wish I could take shots like this but my lenses are not up for this kind of shots so no can do for me.

[ChrisH]

Thanks guys.

Willie - I used a Cannon EF-S 18-200mm lens. They call this the "Holiday Lens" because of its wide choice of focal lengths meaning you can get away with carrying only one lens on holiday. It is handy if you want to to carry a camera an travel light.