White-browed Coucal

This Coucal was sitting on the bush waiting for it's wings to dry before getting more active for the day. Taken in the Serengeti 10/10/10! C&C encouraged and greatly appreciated.

1dm3; f7.1. 1/1000; ISO 800; 1-400mm @400

Beautiful image. Great pose and eye contact. Perch very interesting. wonder about toning the entire image down a little.

Katie I love coucals and this is a great pose in good light. I would consider cropping some off the top and bottom?

Great exposure, very nice details and eye contact. Little too bright.

Wonderful bird in a great setting (for them!) Loved the framing with the inclusion of the long branch. Ray nailed my big concern; it is s bit too light overall.

If African coucals are as elusive as East Asian coucals, then I'll applaud you just for getting the shot. I agree with the comments about the lightness and would like to see a little room off the top. The red eye seems a bit overdone. Also, with your uniform background you could, if you wished, clone out the dry branch jutting upward to the left of the coucal.

Thank you all, I took a bit off the top, added some black to the neutrals and increased saturation just a smidge. I didn't make any adjustments to the eye as this is pretty much the way it looked in the raw capture...it had only been sharpened a little. Better???

I've cloned out the protruding stick. In the course of my exertions, I discovered that the stick was casting a shadow on the coucal, putting in doubt the legitimacy of my enterprise. I have not removed the shadow.

Thank you Craig, I kinda like that stick, it's a bit of framing along with the grass on the right.

After my post of this bird saying that you rarely see them in the open, you have one:cheers:

The repost still looks a little bright to me , perhaps a boost in contrast?

Katie, good to see this character in the open. Super pose, and I like the BG. I agree with Ken, that you can still tone this down even more.