Bearded Vulture close-up

[Chris van Rooyen]

This young Bearded Vulture landed virtually on top of us :S3:. This is the closest I have ever been to one of these giants.

Camera Model: NIKON D3S
Date/Time: 28 June 2011 08h51
Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Exposure compensation: -1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 900
Lens: VR 600mm f/4G

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful close-up with great details.Loved the eye.

[Ofer Levy]

Excellent! Beautiful light, colours and BG. Sharp with excellent detail. Would crop off the right as I don't see the justification to make this a pano rather than a standard horizontal.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Chris, loved the alert pose in this one. Perfect DOF....razor sharp bill tip makes a big difference. Did you focus at a spot between eye and bill? At this shooting angle, we usually see sky BG....this BG is great. Superb sharpness.

I like the crop as presented.

[Sachin Saraf]

Stunning image with plenty of details...interesting to know that it was on top of you...if you do not disclose no one can make it out...

[Stu Bowie]

How is that beak. Exceptional sharp detail Chris, and the light and colours are stunning. Good DOF too. Well captured.

[Wynand van Wyk]

Wow, fantastic close up captured! Love the detail, background and light. Best close up I have ever seen of a Bearded Vulture.

Superb!:S3:

[Karl Egressy]

A truly beautiful portrait shot, Chris. Based on the head shot, it looks like a beautiful bird. I can imagine how majestic they can be in flight.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[Daniel Cadieux]

Don't tell me this was taken in flight!!:t3 I agree with Ofer's crop suggestion, but all else is top-notch. Is the pupil slightly navy blue?

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent light, pose and details Chris have never seen this specie up close it must be really impressive!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks guys, you the focus was between the bill and the eye. No not a flight shot, we were in the Giants Castle hide. The bird landed on a rock not more than 10 metres away, I was worried that the 600mm would have trouble focusing:S3:

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Brilliant Chris, what a great shot, detail and sharpness are amazing. It must have been so exciting having this bird land so close TFS:cheers:

[Nico Steenberg]

:eek: Great sighting Chris IMG is sharp and well exposed. Like that eye. Super portrait !

[christopher galeski]

great portrait image,good details,nice BG,thanks.

[Craig Brelsford]

That bill looks like a piece of marble. Way to rise to the occasion, Chris. Why were you worried about focusing at 10 m? The Nikkor 600 mm lens can focus down to distances of 5.6 m or so, and I recently was shooting bee-eaters with no trouble at all from 7.1 m.