Blowing in the Wind

[Stu Bowie]

I visited my local nature reserve over the weekend for the sole purpose of capturing one of these Long-Tailed Widow birds in flight. There were quite a few around, but all deep in the grasslands and when flying, they were flying away from me. As I was about to leave the gate, this fellow was quite close to the road, and with a slight breeze, it showed off his tail nicely. Did I get the flight shot - nope, he dropped to the ground to feed.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300 F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 640

Manual exposure
Hand held from the car.

[David Salem]

That is one awesome tail on this handsome fellow. Can't believe they can fly around with that giant tail dragging behind them. I also can't believe they aren't extinct due to predation. As you said, they must live in a dense habitat to avoid hawks and falcons. They look like our tricolored blackbird with a huge tail.
The shot looks great with a perfect look at that magnificent tail. The details and exposure are right on and I like the thorny perch and the green BG with the grasses in it.
Very nice Stuart! Next time you will get the killer flight frame:w3

[Doug Brown]

One of the best Long-tailed Widow Bird images I've seen Stuart. Absolutely love the way the wind has lifted the tail feathers! Super detail too (sharpness and blacks both).

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Amazing shot Stu. This is one of the best long tailed widow bird image I have seen! Very well captured and masterfully executed PP. Sharp and super details.

[keith mitchell]

Stuart never seen one of these, your shot is magnificent can't take my eyes off the detail in the tail itself, even a flying one is going to have to be good to better this.

Keith.

[Binu John]

Wonderful shot, Stuart! Love the composition, exposure, BG and details. Can't wait to see a flight image of this beautiful bird.

[Steve Kaluski]

Pretty 'Special' Stu, cropping emphasises the capture well. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[shane shacaluga]

Astounding bird and spectacular image!!

Agree with all comments above! Thanks for sharing

[John Robinson]

Wow!!! What is there to say ?

JohnR

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful Stu! I always find it difficult to show these birds' detail sufficiently because of all the shades of black, but you've done it brilliantly here! Nice perch and beautiful background!

[Phill Luckhurst]

Absolutely superb. I wish we had something like that here in Blighty.

[Rachel Hollander]

Stu - So that's what they look like up close?:Whoa!: Fantastic image of a very difficult to photograph bird. Excellent pose with nice detail. Good job on exp too. Congrats on this one!

TFS,
Rachel

[BenBotha]

Nothing to add. All techs well handled. TFS.
Ben

[Richard Flack]

Super image Stu. Really shows off this guys tail. I like the BG (but would prefer the grasses intersecting the tail not to be there but small gripe). Exposure looks good and details are great. Well done!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image. Beautiful bird, amazing tail. Thank you for sharing.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great timing and excellent details, a really super shot well done.

[Raybel Robles]

Outstanding image. Lovely details from head to tail. Top notch!!

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the great feedback and comments. I do have images of these guys in flight, and have posted some previously, but mostly against a sky BG. :w3

[William Dickson]

Beautiful image Stuart. You can 'feel' the bird hanging onto that perch. The tail is awesome. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing this

[Ivan Ellison]

What a lovely bird, have seen them on documentaries but never in this detail. You must be made up, I am sure you will get your flight shot eventually.

[gail bisson]

Wow Stu!! I think you should vote yourself winner of January's theme!!
This is wonderful.The wind blown tail makes me feel like I can feel the wind.
Comp is perfect and the light and BG perfect.One for the wall!
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image,Stuart. I think it is much better than a flight shot.

[Satish Ranadive]

Marvelous image of handsome one with elegant tail. Great exposure in blacks. Superb details, nice pose to. I like the OOF grass blades crossing his tail vertical.
Superb composition.
Love the frame, Sturat Sir. Wish it was mine.

Regards,
Satish.

[Bill Dix]

Gorgeous! All is said above. Love the wind-blown tail and skinny perch. Terrific alternative to a flight shot.

[Vanessa caccamise]

That is one amazing tail!

[Steve Canuel]

Nice shot Stuart. Love the light on those tail feathers.

[Joe Subolefsky]

Nothing to add that has not been said other then WoW!

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent Stu, all has been said

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Wow, what a beauty Stu!!! Echo all the positives above. Congrats on this killer image.

[Ritesh Nangare]

WOW ...............

What an outstanding shot, the bird is just perfect perched , the light is just amazing, the colors and BG is top notch.

Stunning image and everything.

[Marina Scarr]

This image and bird just blow me away!!! One of your best for sure, STuart!!!

[Kirk Benson]

There are images I come across every once in awhile that I just look at and enjoy for several minutes... this is one of those images Stuart.
Love the beauty of this bird, the windswept tail feathers have caught the sunlight perfectly, the BG is killer good, and your choice of a pano crop is excellent IMO.
Huge congrats on this superb image, I love it just as presented. Masterful work, and a true pleasure to view.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Stuart! I hope you made a print of this and its hanging on your wall.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Stu, this is awesome! Saw one of those Long Tailed Widows flying lazily over the road as we were returning from our recent holiday - that tail seems just too long for this small bird, the flight slowed down by the fluttering of those lovely long tail feathers. Lovely capture indeed, nice detail in the blacks and the crop is spot-on, congratulations:5

Kind regards,

[Robert vanMierop]

My first thought was that this is a difficult to expose bird, and you did very well with it. We sure don't have those around here!

[keith mitchell]

Congrats Stuart:5 very well done.

:cheers:Keith.