Kudos to Mother Nature

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, Aperture Priority @ f/8 (1/1600 sec), -1/3 EV, ISO 800, Beanbag on Vehicle, JPEG from RAW, Cropped About 30% from Full Frame

It's kind of ironic that for all the hours and days I've spent here in Thailand trying to capture a near perfect shot of an Indian Roller in flight, I end up with one closest to that aim with a Lilac-Breasted Roller in Kruger National Park (South Africa) after only a couple of short-lived opportunities and, all told, no more than a few minutes, not that I'm complaining, after all, I live over here with Indian Rollers in relatively close proximity whereas, who knows when I'll get to visit Africa again!

I guess another way of looking at it is that all those hours I invested in trying to get it right with the Indians over here had me much better prepared for their Lilac-Breasted cousins over there, but to leave it at that wouldn't be telling the whole truth.

As has thankfully been the case on more than a few occasions in the past, Mother Nature played her whimsical yet benevolent hand: As I was sitting in the back of our safari Range Rover-style vehicle with my eye on this perched subject through the lens, my mind started drifting, imagining what it would be like to finally catch a wonderful shot of a Roller in flight, and in less that a split second this one had launched itself, and in our direction no less!

I remember the word “DUCK!” resounding in my mind – though it could have been another 4-letter word that sounded remarkably similar! - as I realised with a jolt of pain that once again (I cringe to think how many times this has happened to me before!) within the briefest of momentary lapses in focus and concentration I'd missed the moment … and that's when Mother Nature interceded by blowing a kiss of wind into this Roller face, thereby gentling buffeting it's forward momentum delaying it's progress by a fraction of a second, and within that moment I was able to pull off one of my luckiest shots to date.

No doubt there are countless hours ahead of me filled with frustration and disappointment at missed opportunities while out in the field, but it's the memory of experiences like this, and the resulting images, that will have me breaking a smile and winking into the wind, knowing that Mother Nature is keeping her eye on me as always and, at what She considers to be just the right time, will surely reward me again :^)

Critique and comments welcome as always, and wishing you all a wonderful weekend!