Female Scissor-tailed

Gallery: AvianPosted September 12, 2011230 views21 comments

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Female
Tyrannus forficatus

I spent some time in Southwest Missouri over the weekend and I came across several Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. I do not often see Females posted. Most want to see the very long tail of the male. I think this female looks really nice with her fresh new plumage.

7D, 500mm f4L IS + 1.4 tc
1/250, f16, ISO 200
68% of full frame (12.4 of 18 mp)
I cloned one small bright spot from bottom center of frame.

All comments and critique very appreciated.
Thank you.

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Randy Bacon on September 12, 2011 at 9:41 PM

Beautiful image, well exposed, nice perch (I only see them on a wire!), and a very complementary BG - I agree, this is one lovely lady.

Registered on November 24, 2008, 56 Posts, 492 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on September 12, 2011 at 9:55 PM

Beautiful image with great light and detail. Actually the female may be the more photogenic of the two, and she certainly makes for an easier and better composition. Great job.

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

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on September 12, 2011 at 10:17 PM

An elegant looking female I must say.
Very nice Matt.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on September 12, 2011 at 10:31 PM

Beautiful image, the lighting and colors are wonderful.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on September 12, 2011 at 11:05 PM

Great detail and composition of this awesome bird Matt... I really like the two toned background as well. Nice image!

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on September 12, 2011 at 11:53 PM

Matt - this is a beautiful, elegant portrait of this scissor-tail. You're certainly right...she's a beauty, but your handling of the subject, light, comp and techs all show her off at her finest I think. Great shot!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on September 13, 2011 at 3:22 AM

Wonderful bird and photo. Nice colors, detail - everything is spot on ! Well done, cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on September 13, 2011 at 6:28 AM

Artistic as well a fine Nature shot. Beautiful detail, color & composition. One for the wall!

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on September 13, 2011 at 6:29 AM

She's a beauty, beautifully presented too. Excellent exposure work, great depth of field, although f16 could be a little over kill. But the two-toned background puts this over the top for me. Sweeeeet Photo Matt

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Darren Colello on September 13, 2011 at 11:54 AM

Stellar work Matt. Simply a terrific comp.

Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 13, 2011 at 1:56 PM

A very nice image - great setting, strong composition; nice light; good sharpness. Without a set-up or luring the bird in this is excellent.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on September 13, 2011 at 5:07 PM

Excellent, very nice pose, perch, colors and background. The pose and colors of this female are amazing, nice job in getting this, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on September 13, 2011 at 5:11 PM

Thanks for all the comments everyone. You are right, definitely not a set up Richard. This was shot out my vehicle window while driving around an industrial park with several open fields. The local Audubon group tipped me on their location. In fact, I was stopped twice and asked what I was doing. Big lenses really seem to freak people out for some reason.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 13, 2011 at 5:47 PM

Oh, sweet! Love this shot Matt. What a great look at this bird on a natural perch. Nothing wrong with the female that is for sure. No nits from me. Very well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on September 13, 2011 at 9:37 PM

This is so beautiful! Congrats!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 13, 2011 at 11:12 PM

Wonderful comp and complimentary colors, a great pleasure to view Matt.
I can't really add to what the others have said, beautiful work!

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on September 14, 2011 at 3:06 PM

Lovely bird, stately actually. Wonderful composition and light, and a great job on exposure.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on September 15, 2011 at 11:47 PM

Beautiful subject and a wonderful capture Matt!

If this were mine I would definitely apply some selective sharpening to the subject, as I'm pretty sure there's more detail one could lift from the plumage.

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

Comment posted by Verdon on September 15, 2011 at 11:50 PM

A-mazing shot, great pose, cool perch, stunning BG, nicely managed the whites, large version GREAT, congrats to beautiful work !!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on September 18, 2011 at 3:38 AM

I have never seen one of these - beautiful bird in a nice pose. Great colours, BG and perch.
Really well-done!
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on September 18, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Lovely perch for this species and a great comp, I like the 2 toned bg as well.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments