Bateleur flyby

Gallery: AvianPosted June 1, 2011133 views11 comments

Here is an adult Bateleur photographed in the Kalahari. These are awesome birds of prey and must be one of the most colorful species on the planet. I love to see them on the ground or in flight.

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/6400
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 400
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Focal Length 500.0mm

Crits welcomed.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on June 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM

Really nice image, Neal. I like the peeking out the head is doing from between the wings. Great colors and sharpness.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 1, 2011 at 3:33 PM

Wonderful bird and nice flight pose!
The head is pretty sharp, but the wing soft. You had plenty of shutter speed at 1/6400 to go to F8 or so. That would have helped get the whole bird sharp.
I'd also suggest darkening the BG a fair amount -
Nice image!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on June 1, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Yep. Gotta love that head peek. Like the wing positon a lot, and sharp where it needs to be.

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

Comment posted by Joe Vincent on June 1, 2011 at 6:22 PM

I really like this shot Neal. The head peeking out makes this work.

Registered on August 16, 2005, 69 Posts, 792 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on June 1, 2011 at 8:16 PM

Very sharp! Love the details in the bird!

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on June 1, 2011 at 9:39 PM

Very nice flight shot.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 1, 2011 at 10:54 PM

Terrific capture Neal, almost appears as though you were at eye level. Hope you have more shots of this beautiful bird to show us :^)

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on June 2, 2011 at 6:33 AM

This is fantastic Neal - love the pose and sharpness around the head. I'm wondering whether you could afford to reduce the brightness a bit to give the backs a bit of a boost??

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by Karen Summers on June 2, 2011 at 1:09 PM

love the pose you have caught in this this image and great colour

Registered on December 3, 2009, 83 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on June 2, 2011 at 7:05 PM

Excellent pose & POV, I like the close comp and sharp details I see..
An "extreme" nit pick would be to remove that tiny white spot at the rear of the near wing.
Beautiful work!

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

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on June 3, 2011 at 9:16 AM

Gorgeous shot of a beautiful bird.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments