Helmeted Guineafowl

[Stu Bowie]

The way I took this image was to create a portrait of the head to show off the detail and colours, and getting the BG completely OOF. I then decided to show how narrow their necks are, thus including some of the body.
Taken in the Kruger National Park.

Canon 50D
100-400 L IS USM @ 400mm
1/1000
F/5.6
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.67
Hand held from the car.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

nice lookiing bird with beautiful warm colors and great pose!!!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the plumage, light and BG and only wish for a bit more head turn.

[Juan Aragonés]

Stuart I like this portrait a lot, in fact I love guineafowls. they are really cute species :-) I would go for a different croping with this one, removing some room from the bottom and top of the frame because so much room adds nothing to this portrait. This way, the main interest of the image (the head) would be placed in the upper left corner. I would also tone down the levels just a bit but keeping the light of the eye like in the original post. Great BG and fantastic sharpness. I am envious :-D

[Stu Bowie]

Juan, thanks a lot. I looked at my BG, and thought I would leave the light, as I remember how nice it was. But having seen your level adjustment, your repost shows a huge improvement. Now why didnt I do that the first time. LOL.

[Juan Aragonés]

Stuart, I am glad to hear that you like it. Next time you will do ;)

[Tony Whitehead]

Guineas are great subjects and you have done well here, Stuart. Lovely textures on the skin, beak and casque. Looks as though he had his eye on you too :D

[Fabs Forns]

Wow, great looking bird, love the colors. I like Juan's repost a lot.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Great suggestions above and I do like the repost a lot, I wish for a slightly better head angle. Big congratulations, lovely light, colors, detail, and species.

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback. Much appreciated.