Lunch of the Bee Eater

[Gerald Kelberg]

This Bee Eater (Merops apiaster) was grand-standing his lunch (breakfast, actually!) in the hope of catching the eye and the favour of any females in the vicinity. He spent a lot of time posing but didn't seem to get any action with the ladies. But this was Italy, after all!

I am very pleased with the additional clarity I am getting from the Extender 2 III. Significant improvement over the older model, even on the older generation lens.

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF500mm f/4L IS USM +2.0x EXIII
1/800 sec at f/8.0, ISO Speed 500
DPP, PS 5.1, Neat Image, Smart Sharpen - some pruning required on the timber.

Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Regards,

Gerald

[dankearl]

Great shot with the prey. A total in focus perch would have made this a killer shot.
That said, the bird and the bug are really nice.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Nice bird and catch. Perch is a bit bright but could be easly fix.

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot. I really like the pose, love the bug in it's beak, and I agree with Dan on the perch. Still a wonderful shot.
Well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gerald, good look back pose showing off his catch. Colours look good, and Im fine with the perch as is, as I can see the near part is actually fairly detached from where the BE is perched. If anything, I would move the BE back to the left a touch more, and maybe add a bit of contrast to him. Should pop even more. :w3

[Daniel Cadieux]

Bird, prey, colours are fantastic! Nice details too. Too bad about the OOF part of the perch...cropping as a vertical and getting rid of the blunt thick ending of it does help (IMO)

[Gerald Kelberg]

Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

Yes, the tree structure had the front branch well forward, thus OOF. I have played with a piece of the branch from another image taken the same morning from the same viewpoint - not sure it is convincing though.

Increased the contrast a little, maybe a little more zing, but I find these things hard to judge :S3:

Daniel, thanks for taking the trouble to crop and repost - appreciated. But I find that is another shot, and perhaps a bit tight, so have kept it much the same but moved the bird back in the frame.

Again, many thanks!

Gerald