Swallow Tailed Bee-eater - Air brakes

[Hendri Venter]

Captured in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park recently. Caught this one just before it entered the nesting hole on the sidewall of a ditch to feed the chicks.

Canon 1D MK IV
Canon 600mm F4 IS
ISO 800
F8
1/2500 sec
Aperture Priority
+1.3 exposure to compensate for the bright sand in the BG

[Stu Bowie]

Hey mate, I know how fast these guys can fly, so well done on capturing this posture in your frame. They are so fast that your ss has still shown some motion blur on the head. Good to see his catch for the youngsters. Cool BG.:cool:

[Randy Stout]

Hendri:

I like the braking pose, prey, colorful eye and plumage. As Stuart mentioned, the head is a bit soft. I am surprised at 1/2500s on a parallel flight path that it would generate this much blur. The near wing looks a bit sharper, and I wonder if even with f/8 that there may be a DOF, focus point effect here.

Prey item is a plus, a bit overexposed from the +EC needed for the bird.

Hope to see more from this trip!

Cheers

Randy

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Great timing, pose & colours. Well done Hendri!

[Doug Brown]

It appears that you did lock focus on part of the bird, but unfortunately it wasn't the head. They look like fast fliers! Also it looks like you had room to reduce your EC and boost your SS; perhaps on a future visit you'll really nail one!

[John Wright]

Beautiful colours and subject; just a shame it's JUST a little too soft on the head....everything else about the shot is perfect, however!

[Arno Ellmer]

Superb capture,Hendri ! From shooting Carmine BE's in flight I know how fast these guys are,so well done !
Perhaps some selective sharpening on the head ?

[Hendri Venter]

Thanks for the comments and views. As always appreciated.