Saddle-bill pose

This is a female Saddle-billed Stork, as they have yellow eyes, where as the males have dark eyes. I was very fortunate to capture this girl close by, from the Lake Panic hide in the Kruger National Park. Taken late afternoon.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 275mm
1/400
F/7.1
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held

I love the colors on the bills of these storks. Light angle and head angle work very nicely together here. Perfect comp. too. Well done.

Nice bird. It would have been nicer if the bird would have been down sun angle as the top of the head is in the shade which makes it too dark for me. A bit of dodge and burn might improve this a little bit. I also would lighten the eye a bit. The darker part in the background is somewhat distracting as it runs through the head of the bird.

Stuart:

She certainly is a showy thing.

Agree with Clemens on the lighting angle. Obviously in a hide you couldn't move to your right to give yourself a better light angle.

Sharp, with good DOF to cover that long bill. Did you focus on the eye, or down the bill a bit?

Cheers

Randy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Randy Stout

Sharp, with good DOF to cover that long bill. Did you focus on the eye, or down the bill a bit?

Cheers

Randy

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Thanks Randy. I pulled out the image, and see that my focus point was actually halfway up her neck, just below the bill. With F/7.1, I reckoned that I would cover quite a range of DOF. Covered my bases.:w3

Thanks Gary and Clemens for your feedback too.

Great looking bird and portrait Stu. Love the colours.

IIHmm this is pretty darned good -I would be tempted to increase the exposure a tad but that is about all.

Lovely profile Stuart, realy nice to get so close. I like the way the light picks up the colours and detail in the bill and black plumage.

Great details in the black and nice colors. Light angle has been mentioned. Perhaps blurring the background a bit will reduce its visual impact. As it is it's a bit distracting from an otherwise beautiful shot. JR

Stuart, Interesting bird and I agree w/ comments above. The bill is nice and sharp.:S3: I like your framing.

Nice comp and exposure looks good Stuart. Light angle mentioned, but hard to do anything about in this case. Nice colors and sharpness. Well done.
TFS
Todd

Stuart,

Looks good to me you have posted some really good images of this remarkably photogenic bird lately, this is yet another:cheers::cheers:

Thanks a stack for the feedback, especially on the light. Always appreciated.

what an awesome bird Stu!