Magpie shrike

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 500mm f4 L IS + 1.4TC III ISO 2500, 1/2000 sec f8

ACR + PSCC. The crop is larger than I would have liked but I liked the setting.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, nice clear shot for Kruger. :w3 I like the small perch going up into the frame, and the the Shrike is well exposed on the blacks. Nice pose too. Comp wise, just a personal thing, I would take off the LHS.

This could be either a female or juvie, as the males have a very long tail.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Jonathan, I see you do the same as I do. When the bird is small in the frame I try to work with it finding a pleasant composition without pushing the image quality. I like it, thank you for sharing.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Stu and Jo glad you liked it, yes Jo I did play with composition a little! (Not cloning etc)
Stu you are so on the ball, many many shots I have are partially obscured by vegetation of one sort or another but I have come to tolerate it to a certain extent, after all is said and done, that's how it is and that's it.

[gail bisson]

This is very nice Jon. Nice small in the frame. Nice pose and head turn.
I agree 99% with what Stu said! Except, I would crop from LHS and the bottom to bring into play the great painterly BG at the top of the frame.
I see a blue cast in the whites of the bird and would address that.
I would be tempted to blur/smudge the OOF grass in front of the bird.
I like it!
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Gail and darn it! I did in fact remove magenta and blue from the bird but now I am looking in a darkened with (no/little ambient light)room I still see a faint cast. Thanks ...but grrrrr at me!!

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Like that you chose to keep the MS small in the frame. You've kept the details in the blacks and whites nicely. Great perch and like the surrounding grasses. We had a few opportunities last month in Botswana to see and photograph these beautiful birds. It seems as if they know we want a good angle, so they pose on a perch, back to us to get the white feathers, good head turn, and their long tails in clear view. Nicely captured, Jonathan.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Isaac Grant]

I am so enjoying everyones pictures from Africa. Great bird. The blacks and whites look good to me and you have a nice head turn and look back pose. I agree with Gail that you should crop some off of the bottom and left as the bird is too centered now. Also I think the image is too dark. I find the one large out of focus grass that starts at the bottom of the frame and goes to the right of the bird distracting.