Lilac Breasted Roller (LBR) - Botswana

Took this image of a rather common, but beautiful LBR on an early morning game drive in Botswana before sunrise.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III = 700mm
1/640
f5.6
ISO-3200
Handheld

Love to hear your feedback.

Thank you

Loi

Wow !!
Great detail on a georgeous bird. Like the backdrop too- gives it an air of "being somewhere"
John

Great clarity, soft light and detail Loi - one of my favourite African birds.
The branches behind it aren't ideal but your DOF and detail upfront make them less of a distraction...

Very nice roller. Lovely natural setting and excellent head angle. I would give more room all around if this one was mine!

Excellent image. Superb colours.

Regards,
Satish.

A fine shot, I would consider some light NR on the bird - I think it would make a difference.

Hi Everyone, thnak you very much for your comments. Juan, good call on the crop. The Bg is a bit busy, so I decided to crop tight, but you are right. Here is a RP with a bit more room on top and the right. Looks better i think. Jonathan, good suggestion on the NR. I ran a light NR on the bird. Also open up th emid tone a bit more with Levels as the OP looks a bit dark. Hope you like it better. Loi

Hello Loi. I really like what you did in the repost.

Here is another repost with a few branches removed in post, not the best job but it clearly makes the bird to stand out even more. I hope you don't mind!