Blacksmith Lapwing

[gail bisson]

Canon 1D MKIV
F 4.0 500mm
ISO 640
SS 1/3200
F 6.3
On tripod, in boat.
Cropped by 25% from the right and bottom.
Cloudy day as sun just starting to break through in Okavengo Delta, Botswana.
I love the carpal spur. Called blacksmith because alarm call is "tink tink tink" which supposedly sounds like an anvil.
PP- added sliver of canvas on LHS and NR to BG. Detail extractor at 4% and USM to JPEG.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Excellent full down pose with nice angle in frame, spurs are interesting, good comp. I am glad there is a little cloud texture in the BG. Whites on the wings look a bit dingy. I don't know the bird,this is probably how they are, but I find that sometimes detail extractor will cause this effect.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

Hi Randy,
The whites are indeed a bit dirty in real life. I agree that the DE can do this but not in this case!
Gail

[laurie golden]

Gail,

Nice to see one of these off the ground and I live those spurs. Great pose and composition. Wonderful capture.

[Marina Scarr]

Very nice image, Gail. You did a great job exposing and then adjusting. Love those spurs and the down wing position. Hope you had a great trip.

[Satish Ranadive]

Gail:
Excellent flight pose captured.Not seen this lapwing before.
Love the pose with nice wing position,great spurs and nice composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[christopher galeski]

nice one Gail,good flight pose,very nice detail.thanks.

[John Cooper]

A great BIF capture Gail of a bird I've never seen before. Very clean composition and well executed in the confines of a boat.

[dankearl]

What a cool bird and your wing position really shows off the spurs.
Looking forward to more African photos from you.
Hope you had a good time.

[Melvin Grey]

Very nice wing position showing off those carpel spurs perfectly - the best I have seen. The colouration is just right - there is a lot of grey on the wings as you have captured. Very good plumage detail and sharpness, and descriptive notes.

[Bill Dix]

Great flight pose at a perfect angle. Exposure looks spot on. Nicely done.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like this lots Gail. Pose, comp, details all look good. I even like the worn primary tips!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, glad you are safely back home, and no doubt itching to share Botswana with us.

Good flying pose with the full down wing position - shows off the spurs nicely. A difficult character to expose, but you have succeeded well. Although overcast, I would maybe bring out more red in the eye.

[Karl Egressy]

Welcome back from Africa. I'm looking forward to seeing many exotic birds from you in the next future.
This is one of them. T
he spur really makes it intersting.
It looks like the light was not harsh, it is well exposed and has nice shooting angle, Gail.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice flight pose and wing positions.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

The wing position is super and exposure looks good to me

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the wing position, sharpness, exposure and composition. Well done Gail.