Curves (Magpie Shrike)

[Morkel Erasmus]

I've been struggling for a while to get a decent image of this bird. It's movements are quick, erratic and unpredictable...and it's a tough one to expose properly.
I was happy to be able to dig this one up from a trip to northern Kruger last year. I love the light, pose and especially the curved tail.

All critique most welcome - I have been neglecting my birdies in favour of the bigger African species (like, say, elephants ).

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6 | 1/3200 SS | ISO-2500

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the wing down position, the curvy look from head to tail. Black and white birds are not easy and you manage to capture it so well even in flight, excellent exposure and focusing skill. I also like the pano crop too.

[Sachin Saraf]

Morkel, You captured very beautiful flight pose with excellent wing details and exposure...also love the visible feet but head looks soft and may be another round of sharpening on head will help...Also If mine I would clone the perch behind bird.

[Bill Dix]

Just wonderful. Great flight angle, exposure, sharpness; and that tail is magnificent. Love the bg, with just a hint of environment.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks guys
I noticed it looked a bit softer after uploading - strange since the JPG looks tack sharp when viewed on the computer in my photo browser...
will re-upload a sharper version at home tonight...

[Marina Scarr]

Loving the composition you chose here. You have a lovely BG and a great pose on the bird. Like the fact that its "toes" are visible and curled.

[gail bisson]

This is really nice Morkel.
My eyes must be getting dim but I don't see the softness in head.
Love the light, feet and exposure. Great take off pose.
If this was mine I would blend in the OOF branch coming out of the top of head.
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent dynamic pose and a great BG. great wing position and BG. I do see a slight softness in the head but it maybe from processing

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mork, the 'S' curve of the body and tail does it for me. Excellent exposure on the blacks, and I do like the wing position. Love the BG, and glad you left the perch on the right.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks a lot for the kind comments, folks.

Here is a version with some more sharpening applied on the head...

[Sachin Saraf]

Morkel, it looks much better now, did you also lighten it slightly as bird pops better than original image?

This is beautiful image and additional efforts are worth it.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!! Stunnig flight shot. Love the flight pose, exposed very well, excellent detail, and the repost looks much, much better.
Well done.

[Don Nelson]

I prefer the repost -- excellent details, and the tail is interesting (curve). Showing the perch is a nice addition, and the background is outstanding.

[dankearl]

Agree with all the comments. One of your best Morkel, a stunning flight shot of a stunning bird.

[Ofer Levy]

As much as I like the pose, light, colours and exposure control - this image doesn't look sharp to me even in the repost. If you can post a crop of the head I assume the lack of sharpness will be quite noticeable.

[Ken Watkins]

Morkel,

It is difficult enough to get one of these sitting still, because of the tail length, but the tail seems quite short when flying (optical illusion I think)

[David Salem]

Unique bird and great capture. Love the long tail. Good exposure control and the re-post made a big difference on the soft head. Very well done...

David

[Doug Brown]

Love the pose and the BG. As mentioned above, sharpness could be better. I like the idea of blending in the stick above the bird's head and I might remove the hint of blue at the top of the frame.