{"id":35429,"date":"2016-02-08T05:51:21","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T12:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=35429"},"modified":"2025-11-22T09:18:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:18:55","slug":"an-american-kestrel-attacking-a-red-tailed-hawk-how-i-messed-up-this-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/08\/an-american-kestrel-attacking-a-red-tailed-hawk-how-i-messed-up-this-shot\/","title":{"rendered":"An American Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk – How I Messed Up This Shot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the<\/em> worst image I have ever posted on my blog and typically any image I have taken resulting in such poor quality would have been deleted as soon as I previewed it on my computer monitor.<\/p>\n

I kept this file though because it is a reminder to myself to always be prepared. I missed a great behavior shot because I wasn’t.<\/p>\n

The lighting conditions were awful the day I took this photo. There were clouds, low light, falling snow and fog even before getting to Farmington Bay<\/span><\/a> .<\/p>\n

I set my ISO high to obtain adequate shutter speeds, which I had<\/em> when I took this image. I didn’t screw up there.<\/p>\n

On my Nikon D810 I have the option of having my camera automatically reset the exposure compensation back to 0 after I take my finger off of the shutter button for a short period of time.<\/p>\n

Doing that has worked great for me since I started using the D810 because when I pick the camera up to photograph a subject I always know<\/em> where the EV is and can quickly assess the light and setting and make adjustments to the exposure compensation quickly on the fly.<\/p>\n

But when I saw this Red-tailed Hawk being pursued by the American Kestrel in an aerial dogfight I simply didn’t have enough time to make adjustments because they flew in so quickly.<\/p>\n

There wasn’t any<\/em> time to change a single setting before raised my lens & camera to photograph them and I know without a doubt<\/em> that I would have increased my exposure for the lighting conditions that were present that day.<\/p>\n

I brought the exposure up on this frame by 1.35 in Photoshop to show the talons of the small, feisty kestrel grabbing the head of the much larger and probably thoroughly annoyed red-tailed hawk.<\/p>\n

I really wanted to cry when I saw that I had captured the intense defensive behavior of the kestrel and that I had missed creating a quality image because I wasn’t prepared.<\/p>\n

I’ve been kicking my rear end for not getting this shot for nearly two months now. It isn’t every day that I have the opportunity to photograph an American Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk in the air, in fact this would<\/em> have been my best opportunity. Ever.<\/p>\n

If only I hadn’t messed up.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Kestrel photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

See this addition for more information on why this shot was messed up:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish I would have mentioned the softness and the reasons for it when I wrote my post but I was rushing to get it done before going out shooting this morning.<\/p>\n

I think if I had used +1.3 EV the exposure would have been better and if I would have had just a bit more time to focus on the birds that would have helped to, it is a challenge to photograph with low light, fog and falling snow, even though I have a lens that focuses fast it struggled that morning due to the conditions. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I am also not sure the vehicle I was shooting from had completely stopped when I took this image. I wasn’t driving, I was a passenger and had no control over when the vehicle I was in. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This all happened so quick though, I just didn’t have time to be better prepared.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Also, by increasing the exposure in post processing I have caused noise to appear which reduces the quality of this image that wouldn’t have been there had I used a better exposure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It isn’t every day that I have the opportunity to photograph an American Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk in the air, in fact this would have been my best opportunity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,27,1022,697,449,26],"tags":[830,155,2663,4170,4913,4199,4078,4279,4169,6276,4892,153,4209,373],"class_list":["post-35429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-aerial-defense","tag-american-kestrel","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-defensive-behavior","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-hawks","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9dr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76590,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/26\/five-bird-photos-from-christmas-day-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":35429,"position":0},"title":"Five 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McPherson","date":"May 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When I heard a call to my left I glanced in that direction and saw a female Northern Harrier flying towards the Red-tailed at break neck speed.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk in a defensive posture during a Northern Harrier attack, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-harrier-attack-mia-mcpherson-2223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-harrier-attack-mia-mcpherson-2223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk with an eye on the sky, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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