African Grey Hornbill

[hennieloots]

Came across this bird in the Kruger National Park during a vist this year. The Yellow and Red bill version are very common; this was the 1st time a had the opportunity to photograph the Grey hornbill and we it allowed me quite close as a bonus. Took this image with sun fairly high. The perch is not great and I would prefer the background more smooth, but this is where it decided to perch!

Techs: Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 500mm F4 IS USM – 1/3200 @ F/4.0 & ISO: 400 |EV: +¹/₃ | HH from SUV
PP:
Crop – Full frame
LR – Contrast added, recovered minimal shadows, sharpened
PS6 – Luminosity mask – Highlights reduced by LBM, Midtone contrast added with LBM, Selective sharpening, Selective blur to BG, Selective dodge & burn to mainly head, eye and beak of subject.

All comments, advice and critique always welcome and appreciated!
Regards
Hennie

[gail bisson]

Hennie,
I think the colors are terrific in this shot and light is lovely even though you say it was quite harsh.Perhaps the BG gives the illusion of an evening shoot.
I like everything about this shot including IQ, subject,perch and comp.
The only thing that bugs me is that branch that cuts through the body. I would clone that out in a "New York minute" and burn the other whitish vertical OOF branch in front of the bird.
If I was to be really picky I would wish for a slightly better head angle (HA) towards you.
Very nice image.,
Gail

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Hennie - Gail has given a nice in depth critique. I really like the colors. My only additional comment is that perhaps it is slightly oversharpened.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Hennie! I agree with Gail's critique. Composition wise if you have the room I would like to see the full tail, so more room below and to the right.

[Randy Stout]

Hennie:

An attractive fellow I don't know well. Good points from Gail.

Because the light was bright, I think that the extra contrast processing pushed it a bit too far for my taste, too contrasty.

There are some subtle processing halos along the bill.

Look forward to some more!

Cheers

Randy

[hennieloots]

Thank you guys for the advice. Rachel, Randy - I do agree; will learn from it. Jim - No more space, full frame.
Thank yo all for having a look.
Hennie

[hennieloots]

Sorry, intended to thank Gail with Randy!

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Super image Hennie, nice colours, details and BG. Agree with Gail's assessment!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat bird, and I am quite OK with the perch. I like the hint of habitat in the BG, but I would tone down the two bright twigs to match the rest of the motif back there. I agree the contrast is a tad strong. Very nice overall.

[Melissa Groo]

I would tone down the contrast a bit, but overall I think it's really well done. The light, the complementary colors and yes, even the sense of habitat. I don't mind the BG at all. I only wish you had been able to get the whole tail in.
How fortunate you got to see and photograph this rarer hornbill!

[Robert Kimbrell]

What a terrific specimen of a bird i will probably never see. I am OK with the background, it's a very beautiful color. and i like it's dof showing just a hint of the environment. Good comments above.