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| Black-Winged Kite |
One of my favorite birds of prey is the Black-Winged Kite. The red eyes, combined with the white-grey-black colored body, make for a very aggressive looking combination, with the yellow legs providing some additional color. In this photo I was able to approach because I was hidden behind another tree, and took a photo between the leaves of that tree. It was a combined blessing and curse, as once the bird opened her wings, some leaves obstructed part of one of them. Either way, I think the photo works pretty well.
What do I like about this photo? The Kite is in an interesting and active pose, showing the beauty of her wings. The colors are wonderful. The tree I was hiding behind provides some blurred-out color to make the photo more interesting, and the branch the Kite was standing on also adds some interest. I used an open aperture (f/6.3 - the most open my lens supports at the focal length of 400mm) to blur our everything but the Kite and the branch, so they really stand out.
What would I want to improve? I would have liked to be a little closer so the leaves would not hide the end of the wing (and some more details would be visible).