The Female has rich yellow underparts.The Male has , in addition , a bluish-purple breast band.I suspect that this bird is a juvenile male bird,with a smidge of purple plumage beginning to show.Not sure ,though .
Skukuza Camp ,Kruger National Park .
Canon Mk IV
70-200mm f/2.8 IS II at 200mm
f/6.3
1/2000
ISO 800
EC +1/3
Hand held
07-13-2012, 02:37 PM
dankearl
Another nice one, Arno, with less highlights than the first.
07-13-2012, 04:40 PM
Bill Dix
Beautiful bird. Nice light and details. Great bg.
07-13-2012, 07:09 PM
laurie golden
Beautiful bird and love the iridescence on the head.
07-14-2012, 12:36 AM
Robert Holguin
Very nice shot. Excellent details, very nice background, great perch, and very nice light.
Well done.
07-14-2012, 06:21 AM
Karl Egressy
Beautiful bird, nicely captured, Arno.
I like the irridescent feathers and the curvy bill.
I would tone down the background just a little as I feel that the bird would pop better that way.
07-14-2012, 07:16 AM
PhilCook
I think I'd agree regarding turning back the background a little to make the bird stand out a little better, but great shot nonetheless, excellent posture and you've caught those glorious iridescent neck/back feathers perfectly...love it ! !
07-14-2012, 08:24 AM
Sidharth Kodikal
Gorgeous bird, very well captured, Arno. Perfect DOF, nice bg and love the slanted perch and the alert pose.
Head turned just a bit our way would've been nice, but not a deal breaker for me by any means.
07-14-2012, 09:24 AM
Satish Ranadive
Magnificent image. Everything has been said about it.Love the beautiful bird with lovely colors,nice pose and great details.I like the BG and perch too.
07-14-2012, 01:20 PM
Layton E Parham
I think that the background makes a nice bright overall picture. It is certainly eye catching.
07-14-2012, 01:28 PM
Arno Ellmer
Thank you all for the kind and positive comments.Always appreciated.
07-14-2012, 02:45 PM
arash_hazeghi
nice pose details and BG. I would go for a 3 : 2 vert here