Long - tailed Widowbird

[Pieter Lotter]

Canon 40D/ Canon 100-400 lens - 1/1000-f7.1 - ISO 400
Any comments welcome.I have not removed any grass as I feel that it shows the bird's natural habitat.

[Randy Stout]

Pieter:

Always a striking bird with that long tail, but the grasses hide his most distinctive feature here. This bird is a real challenge because of the tail, and it reduces the options in regards to framing and habitat inclusion, at least for me.

I like the colors of the BG, perhaps some noise sneaking it.

The head seems a little soft for me, seems like mid wing is a bit sharper.

Hope to see more from this series if you have them.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very striking bird, I always enjoy viewing posts featuring this species. I don't mind the inclusion of grasses, and the comp is a good compromise. Great colours in the BG. IQ seems suspect though...either a huge crop, or a resizing/post processing issue...and I have a feeling focus was locked on to the grasses...

[Pieter Lotter]

Randy and Daniel

Thank you both for your coments. Yes, focusing was a problem but I've learnt a lot from this, my first attempt at photographing this bird. Unfortunately, this was the best pic of a not-so-good bunch.
Will keep on trying.

Pieter