Pied Take Off

[Stu Bowie]

I went up to Pilanesberg National Park with some friends yesterday. It was extremely cold, and very windy. I managed to capture this take off, and from the direction of the wind, it was behind him. The BG is distant OOF foliage, and I removed a small bit of the lower perch in the LRC.

1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 400mm
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 800

Exp Comp +0.67
Hand Held

[arash_hazeghi]

wow this is excellent! looks like the MK4 is doing its job! glad to see you finally have the right tool you deserve!

[Frank Schauf]

Very nice flight pose and bg colours.

[Don Nelson]

Great capture at liftoff with top view of spread feathers. I like the position of the bird in frame with the (former) perch displayed. Excellent! (and a beautiful B&W bird too). Kingfishers on this side of the pond are hard to get close to (at least out west - probably tame in Florida ;-)

[Ofer Levy]

Nice pose, sharp with good detail. I am not sure I see the need to keep the perch and would crop a bit tighter. I see some artefacts along the head andd beak.

[Richard Unsworth]

Stuart

I just wonder how good your going to be when you have had the mkiv a while; great timing, difficult shot - brilliant; part of a sequence?

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Another Wow Stu, love the banking pose and beautiful Mankwe BG. Congrates on MarkIV, you must be very happy, looking foward to seeing more.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Nice wing display, angle in frame, BG.

I do see some jaggies from oversharpening along the bottom of the bill {mentioned by Ofer}.

Look forward to more!

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for the comments and feedback. With regards to the jaggies on the bill, will maybe feather away a little more from the edge.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Stuart! I like the wing position, IQ, BG and composition. Congrats on the new lens.

[Grace Scalzo]

Quite an excellent image with super pose. I'm not loving the bit of perch and would like to see either none of it, or more.

[Stu Bowie]

Congrats on the new lens.

Thanks Jim. I wish it was a lens. I managed to save some money and got myself a new camera.

[Gen Benjamin]

wonderful image, love the pose and the background. The blur on the ends of the wings give me the sense of flight
Gen

[Markus Jais]

Amazing shot! I love the wing pose and the fantastic BG color.

Markus

[Simon Wantling]

Great photo Stuart. Really the banking pose. Nicely timed capture.

[gail bisson]

wow! You are rocking the 1D MK IV!
I love the wing pose and BG.
I would remove the perch.
Oversharpened a little bit but you will soon get used to the PP for the 1D MK IV.
Well done,
Gail

[Robert Holguin]

Awesome shot Stuart. I love the pose and head turn, excellent background, exposed very well, and great comp.
Well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for the feedback everyone.

Ofer, Grace, Gail, you guys have a point about removing the perch. Maybe it is a touch small in the frame. I just feel adding more perch will push the Pied more into the centre of the frame.

[Giuseppe Varano]

Very nice flight shot Stuart with perfect wings position and gorgeous bg. I agree wiht you about a little more perch. I would prefer in a 3:2 format, but is a matter of personal taste, indeed a well done image.

[Satish Ranadive]

As usual marvelous image.Love the take-off pose,great details and BG.
I am still learning, today I have learned one more lesson,how make use of negative space in composition?
Thank you.

Regards,
Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wonderful wingspread and HA, and quite a beautiful BG! I'm with Grace in regards to the perch...either none of it, or more. Congrats on the new toy!!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

What a great pose and I wish I had this shot . I am curious are they as skittish as the belted? I can never get close enough. Really nice