Indian Roller

Gallery: AvianPosted April 29, 201172 views11 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, Aperture Priority, f/6.3 (1/800 sec), ISO 800, 0 EV, Tripod, JPG from RAW, Cropped About 50%, Non-Captive Subject

The next in the non-captive birds at my local zoo mini-series is another of my absolute favourites: The Indian Roller.

With the possible exception of Sunbirds and Kingfishers, the two birds I've spent most time searching for and working toward capturing them as spectacular images are Indian Rollers and Hoopoes, the latter of which I'll soon be showing you examples of too. My first real-life sightings of both the Indian Roller and the Hoopoe happened to be at the zoo, and I immediately fell in love with both :^)

My main goal with the Indian Roller has been to capture images of them in flight with full wingspread, as one can only truly appreciate the magnificence of their turquoise and Mediterranean blue coloured feathers in this way. After more than a few months I have to say this is still very much a work in progress, but I do seem to be getting closer with each new encounter, so hopefully it won't be long before I can show exactly what I mean :^)
For now, hope you can enjoy this one ;^)

Critique and comments are always welcome :^)

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 30, 2011 at 4:01 AM

Nice one Ashley - love the leafy setting

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 30, 2011 at 6:59 AM

Love this wide-open beak pose, it shows attitude. Great colors, details, and setting.
Only small nit are the few very light areas right side BG, but you've managed them well.
Beautiful Roller Ashley, nicely done as posted

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on April 30, 2011 at 7:06 AM

Ashley, Love your shots and narratives, I look forward to them. I love the bird and the open beak. Would like to see more of this bird. I think a little off the right would uncenter the Roller and get rid of a few of the bright highlights on that side.

Harry

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 30, 2011 at 11:45 AM

Nice capture in mid song Ashley. Since this was a large crop, I would be tempted to place it further to the right to get rid of some of the bright spots in the BG. I might also be tempted to tone down the green BG (just a tiny, tiny bit)...IMO, it sort of competes with the bird...but that is a small nit. Great detail for such a large crop.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 30, 2011 at 10:48 PM

Many thanks for your kind words and comments Rob, Howard, Harry, and Kurt :^)

Howard, Harry, and Kurt: While I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions regarding the composition, this is one of those rare cases where I've specifically chosen to centre the subject much more than I usually do, for the simple reason that I felt the image was more pleasing by not slicing off the end of the perch to the far right of the frame. Without pushing the end of the perch too close to the edge of the frame, I did actually shift the crop just enough over so that there's marginally more space on the left, which I felt was just enough given the slight directional tilt of the subject's head.

Another reason why I settled on this was that when trying the crop you're suggesting to eliminate parts of the bright highlights on the right of the frame, the result seemed to accentuate the even larger patch of bright light under the RH side of the perch, which there's nothing really I can do that wouldn't make it look unnatural; leaving the bright part on the right of the frame seems to balance things out better, as least IMO ;^)

Harry: Rest assured this is one species of bird you'll definitely be seeing more of in my posts ;^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 1, 2011 at 11:32 AM

Beautiful bird Ashley, I am looking forward to seeing that wingspread!

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on May 1, 2011 at 12:08 PM

Ashley, it seems you have a treasure trove of fine birds to choose from in your area. This songster makes and interesting image with that wide open beak and eye contact. Love the colors.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on May 2, 2011 at 12:16 AM

Terrific pose with the open beak, Ashley! I used to see them back in India, but usually in the open. Never seen one in a setting like his.

Looking fwd to seeing more.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 2, 2011 at 12:29 AM

Thanks for viewing and leaving comments Peter, Wayne, and Govind :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 2, 2011 at 6:29 PM

Excellent shot Ashley, one of my favorites of your recent postings, everything comes together on this one for me, perch, background, bird with open mouth and good detail on the larger version, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 3, 2011 at 5:58 AM

Thanks for taking the time to view and comment Jim :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments