A little while back, I posted an image of a Red-collared Widowbird. These guys have even longer tails. Whilst this is probably the best flight pose you can get, Im still aiming to get this against a grassland BG. Taken early morning in the reserve close to my house.
Canon 1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 400mm
1/2500
F/7.1
ISO 800
An impossible looking bird...just amazing that it can fly at all......and it lives close to your home...envious to say the least. Ticks all my check boxes and a blue sky backdrop as well
Wow!!!!! That is a pretty long tail.
I can imagine how difficult it can be to fit the whole bird in the frame.
Excellent comp, great pose, and nice details in the blacks.
Very well done.
Near your home !!!! You are one lucky man Stuart. This one is straight out of a fairy tale, and the bg works perfectly for me. The only question that I would ask my self : "How would a vertical look on this compared to the slightly squarish compo that you have now". Fantastic overall shot and glad that you shared this with us. Thanks.
Great catch of the male displaying, Stu. Good job to get detail in the blacks and the sky. I especially like how his head profile shows up against the red epaulet as it would get lost against the black of the far wing.
Soon as I saw this I thought this is the one he's been waiting for, and it was really worth waiting for. The timing is super and the detail excellent, the light really has been with you, more importantly you were ready and so was the camera.. I am sure you thought about it but what about a portrait as opposed to the almost square format. I appreciate the shape of the pose makes it difficult but I do have some slight reservation over all the empty space on the right,....... having said that I don't think composition is one of my strong points!
What a compositional challenge with that amazing tail! Great pose, like the wind blown tail,foot showing, and Tony made a critical point about the head against the epaulet.
I would certainly try a vertical, that diagonals of the tail and wings would work well.
Thanks a stack for the feedback and kind words everyone. To be honest, my initial processed image was a vertical, so here it is. It was touch and go which one to post.
What a shot, Stu! The blacks are rich and filled with details. You couldn't ask for a better pose! Even though it's a sky bg, the clouds add interest and the bird stands out so well against that blue.
Excellent work. I bet you were pleased to see this on the back of you camera?
Hi Stuart,
I really like the vertical.The blacks look great and I like the wispy white clouds as well.
Great techs and IQ as well.
I can't wait to see your trophy shot- the one against a varied BG!! Soon I am sure.
Gail
wicked! vertical works better for web presentation. agree with Randy about the clouds. Good you got the red behind the head...otherwise, head might have got lost. great pose and sharpness. Rich deep blacks as well.
Stuart Sir:
This is fabulous image of beautiful bird with such long tail and you have captured it so nicely.I like the vertical composition.
Love the exposure and details in blacks and red on shoulder,lights and flight pose with full wing stretch.Nice catch light too.
Why is he name as widowbird?
Very nice shot Stuart. Awesome bird with a perfect pose. Techs look great and the blacks are defined well. Like the vertical much better. If it didnt have the long tail it would look like our red wing black bird. Very well captured.
Long-tailed Widowbird
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