Cape Turtle Dove

[Chris van Rooyen]

I created this image in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park some time back. I was sitting at the waterhole, hoping to get some Lanner Falcons in flight as they dive-bombed the doves. The doves themselves provided excellent practice for flight images as they hurtled in to come and drink:) Comments welcome as usual! P.S> I added a highlight..

Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Date/Time: 2009:03:10 08:07:48
Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Tv
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: Continuous
ISO: 1000
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool wing position, good sharpness and BG. I might lighten the shadow of the beak and considering the sun angle, I would put the catchlight a little higher.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks Axel, good point on the catchlight!

[Danny J Brown]

Beautiful shot, Chris, and I love your composition. I love the black band on the tail and the shadow of the beak on the bird's neck adds interest to the shot. Detail on the feathers and talons and overall color and exposure are all well done. Nice one.

[Aidan Briggs]

I love the braking pose, light, and exposure. Tack sharp too. The catchlight looks a bit artificial IMO

[Arthur Morris]

Excellent for the reasons noted above. Maximum sharpness is on the head where it should be. Love the position of the feet as well.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Hi Chris. Good stuff. These open wing landing positions are always cool to catch and very dramatic. The only thing I can see is subjective. The BG is great but IMO could be a point or two darker. The level seems to be competing with the subject a bit much. Nice job with this catch.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks everyone for the comments, greatly appreciated:)

[Harshad Barve]

beautiful image with nice wing and feet position , lovely BG and sharpness
TFS

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Loved the wing and tail spread. Composition is very good too. Well done Chris.