This close shot of the head of a Kestrel, and others from the
series, have done well in various fields. They are the result of
a friend asking one of his work-mates, who has a licence to keep
birds of pray, if I could photograph them.

The deal was that I should give the owner some prints - and, of
course, I did.




The bird was posed on a fence post with a completely open
background after preparing all of the gear that I needed. I shot
medium format and 35 mm colour and mono. I believe that, once a
photo opportunity is there it should be FULLY used.

Flash was also used for some shots to put a catchlight in the
birds eye, and a polarising filter darkened a blue sky for colour
shots.




The camera was ALWAYS supported on a Monopod. I rarely shoot
without some kind of camera support. Camera shake ruins more
pictures than anything, and a monopod gives excellent support
whilst retaining the mobility lost with a tripod.