Beauty.

A Kestrel Hunts

On a recent walk I was lucky to encounter a Kestrel hunting over the field adjacent to where I was walking. Rather than the usual brief encounter I typically have with these magnificent birds, this one hung around for a good five minutes, riding the thermals and hanging near motionless in the sky as it watched for prey.

This gave me some time to dial in the settings on the Z8, although I did end up fighting with the exposure compensation which didn't seem to be doing an awful lot (I was shooting in manual mode with a fixed aperture and shutter speed, but also had auto ISO engaged, which I would expect to work in conjunction with the exposure compensation control, but didn't see much evidence of that and had to really lighten these in the edit).

On the plus side bird detect was actually detecting the bird for once, well at least it was against a plain sky, when it dived and I attempted to track it with trees behind I got some wonderfully sharp looking trees with a smeary blob in front of them.

The biggest issue with these images though is the choice of lens. When I set out on the walk I didn't feel like carrying the heavy 100-400 and just took the 70-180 instead, this turned out to be a mistake as that extra reach would have really helped here. As a result, these are extreme crops that have been upscaled to the max in Topaz. Still, kudos to that little 70-180 lens for still managing to capture enough detail for Topaz to generate half decent looking images. Just don't zoom in too much on them.

Incredible results. My fave.

The little boys facial expression is priceless in this shot.

Spooky. I can immagine some wolves lurking out of sight in some of these.

The artistry of this statue is amazing. It is amazing how art went backwards after the fall of Rome.

Maybe it is better not to revisit places you enjoyed. They are never the same and always for the worse. There is a Canyon just over in Tuscany where I had an incredible hike. It suffered flash flooding and I have been tempted to do the hike again, but I am sure it would not be the same.

Instagrammers and "Content Creators" are the modern pillaging Barbarians, tuning our cultural assets into an overcrowded Disneyland.

This is a game I like to play too now and again.

The reins he is holding are a great detail, surely not stone?

What, just that corner is popular or is that just your spot? It's nice but can't see why it is content creator worthy.

Some really good details picked out there Chris. And B&W suits them.

Reflections are always a great source of inspiration, often turning out quite differently from how you expect. The last one for me - perhaps a little more abstract than the others.

I never realised how evil a building could look! Maybe it's ok from the inside - I hope so for the residents' sake! Great perspective in the first.

Bronze. Bronzes like this are usually cast by the lost wax technique I think, but presumably th reins would have been added afterwards as beaten bronze strips. When complete there would have been a chariot and probably four horses!

The whole area of Anafiotika measures little more than 130 x 60 metres but is all very photogenic with narrow white painted steps, pots of flowers etc. It's different from any other part of Athens - very reminiscent of popular islands like Santorini or Mykonos. A 'must visit' stop on any 'Best places to visit in Athens' I suppose. There were also portrait and wedding photographers using the area as a picturesque photoshoot setting.

More like a grim office block. I feel some drastic cropping might make some nice semi abstract images.

I always love to see these birds of prey hunting. Where I used to work, I would often see them hunting or being chased by crows. These have come out nicely.

Right. I mean it's a nice corner, just not a destination corner.