Busy Hoopoe

[Gerald Gardebled]

Busy hoopoe feeding its little ones. Photo taken in Shahe, Beijing. This picture was taken at the end of April, a period of the year well known in Beijing for catkin flying everywhere. what "looks" like snow is catkin blown by the wind at the same time the bird was coming back to the nest to feed the little hoopoes.
156871
Nikon D4S and Nikkor 600 F4
ISO 3200
Aperture F4
Exposure time: 1/1600

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool effect on the BG, although I might be tempted to de-saturate it a bit (tree trunk shows some magenta cast). I like the wing position and the small food item, the hoopoe is a bit small in the frame and doesn't show much detail, I'd crop a bit tighter and perhaps sharpen the hoopoe a bit more

very nice, TFS

[Colin Driscoll]

Great scene all around!

[Kalin Botev]

Great, I love the back light and the way the picture shows the habitat!

[William Dickson]

Great colours throughout and a tender moment captured. Love the eye contact between adult and chick. :S3:

Will

[keith mitchell]

Gerald never seen a shot like this really different, love the overall effect.

Keith.

[Gerald Gardebled]

Thanks to all for the comments!

[Marina Scarr]

I love the small in the frame presentation. It's so special and unique. The highlights are awesome. I agree with Arash on removing the magenta cast from the tree. You might wish to try dodging the near side of the bird just a little bit. I think this image with a few tweaks is spectacular with the backlighting and colors.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Wow, wow, wow!
One of the nicest images I've seen in a while.
Killer back lighting, killer species, killer environment .... flight, food, chick ... you've got it all here.