BURP

[Ken Watkins]

This is a male Black Bellied Bustard issuing his mating call. Remarkably this is done by swallowing air and then burping, an amazing thing to see (even better on video with sound).

This one was taken early in the morning on a dull day in Kwando concession, Northern Botswana, 2nd January 2012.

EOS 1D MkIV

500mm F4 hand-held

F5.6, ISO 800, 1/500

Luckily they usually stand on termite mounds when doing this

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ken, Super angle from a vehicle, and you have captured the calling pose nicely. Colours look good, love the dew drops on the grass, and the far BG is a killer. The overall sharpness is fine, although there are signs of some crispy areas on the wing.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Ken - nice and clean composition showing off a neat moment. great detail and colors throughout as well.

[Richard Unsworth]

Very nice indeed, great pose and setting. Call pose is awesome.

[Ofer Levy]

I love this! Awesome pose and techs!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Absolutely stunning shot, Ken. the pose, details, smooth BG, angle...superb. is this full frame? If you have more room below and top, adding that back in will help. Did you get a vertical? Huge WOW factor. Might be worth trying a slightly( I mean ever so slightly) warmer WB.

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. I really like the lighting, excellent comp, great details, and wonderful background.
Well done.

[Bill Dix]

Terrific. The best burping pose I've seen. Beautiful bg and setting. I'll second the suggestion of a tiny bit warmer WB, and there are a few crunchy spots; all easily fixed if so inclined. An amazing shot.

[Richard Mc Donald]

You've caught some great colours here in your Bustard shot Ken and I like the fact you haven't "caged" the bird by giving it a tight crop, plenty of room to move. Saturation is excellent unlike some we see here. If anything I'd say it was a smidgen oversharpened but that's neither here nor there, well done mate.

Richard

[arash_hazeghi]

awesome Ken, love the pose details and the depiction of the enviroment. well done

[Shawn Zierman]

Totally agree with the accolades. Great image!
Love the background!

[Karl Egressy]

Great calling pose, beutiful composition and shooting angle, Ken.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer image, Ken. Love the calling pose and your bird really pops against that BG with that gorgeous light.

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks a lot everybody for your kind and constructive comments.
In this case I think the extra round of sharpening after conversion to JPEG was probably not required, I have tried warming the BG a bit and no extra sharpening, does it work?