Black-bellied bustard

[Chris van Rooyen]

I was fortunate to get out of the city again and spend four days at Sabi Sabi with fellow photographers, one of our premier private game reserves bordering the Kruger National Park. We bumped into this guy displaying from the ant-heap. He was so engrossed in his calling that he did not take any notice of the two safari vehicles a few metres away.

Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Camera serial number: 533661
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows
Date/Time: 2008:11:09 12:30:29
Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Tv
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: On
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 640
Focal length: 500mm

[Doug Brown]

Great pose and nice eye contact. I like the way the vegetation follows the lines of his neck on both sides. I don't mind the fact that the bird is centered in the frame. Nice one!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Chris,
Lovely. I like the angle. I like the background. Agree with Doug regarding that grass moving along the the neck without being distracting. Nice details in the image. I like the composition. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely portrait of a difficult bird to get close to. Love the detail from the light on the open bill while calling and eye detail. Colour palette is great. Wondering re a little more room at the top. Great job (as usual), Chris.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Great portrait of this species and I like the beautiful composition as well as the open beak. Fine work Chris. Thanks for sharing.

[Ramon M. Casares]

This one is not good... it is CRAZY GOOD!! I love the fantastci natural moment captures, the great great BG and light, the comp, details and pose .. all is great, an exquisit shot! Congratulaitons!

[Juan Aragonés]

Superb Chris. Details, light, pose, angle , I like everything on this image. The OOF grass are a perfect and subtle detail of the habitat.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks guys, appreciated!