Beautiful African Plover Species

[Arthur Morris]

Most of the vans on our Tanzania Summer Safari pretty much ignored this species at Ngorongoro Crater. Mine did not . I created this image with the Canon 600mm f/4L IS II lens, the 2X III TC, and the EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop in Av mode: 1/500 sec. at f/9.

Don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[dankearl]

Sharp as can be. What a beautiful bird!
I would maybe darken the FG just a tad to create some contrast with the background.
The bird looks terrific. Is that a feather caught in the leg?

[Karl Egressy]

Great looking bird, sharp, IQ is super. The side light brings out the feather details very nicely. I like the composition and the golden color background.

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp as can be. What a beautiful bird!
I would maybe darken the FG just a tad to create some contrast with the background.
The bird looks terrific. Is that a feather caught in the leg?

Thanks. Good idea on the foreground. Yes a feather, the bird's own, I think.

[Markus Jais]

Great sharpness and a beautiful image. I like the placement of the bird in the frame and the angle of view.

Markus

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Beautiful image of a bird oft neglected on safaris Artie. Nice details and sharpness with awesome long lens technique from the Master!!! TFS. I have the 500 f/4 II lens with the 1.4 X TC III on 5D III. would you recommend I buy the 2X III to give more reach?
Regards
Sanjeev

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful image of a bird oft neglected on safaris Artie. Nice details and sharpness with awesome long lens technique from the Master!!! TFS. I have the 500 f/4 II lens with the 1.4 X TC III on 5D III. would you recommend I buy the 2X III to give more reach?
Regards
Sanjeev

Absolutely. There are numerous examples with the 600II/2X III/5D III on the blog. I propose that unless you are shooting flight and action that the 5D III is a better camera than the vaunted 1D X. Why? Same performance, more pixels.

[Arthur Morris]

Great sharpness and a beautiful image. I like the placement of the bird in the frame and the angle of view.

Markus

Thanks Markus. As for the angle of view, I was working from the van window. But those windows open sideways and resting the lens on the bottom of the window sill is nearly impossible unless you sit in which case getting up is nearly impossible. So I developed a new trick that I shared with others: I rested my left forearm on the latch halfway up the window. It hurt just a bit but helped stabilize the big lens. I was effectively hand holding at 1200mm.

[Martin Dunn]

Beautiful capture of a beautiful bird Artie.
Great sharpness. I agree with darkening the foreground a wee bit but other than that nothing to whinge about. Handheld at 1200mm - impressive indeed.

BTW, it's not a plover it's a Lapwing.
A Black-Winged Lapwing to be precise - Vanellus Melanopterus.

Although with the way people have been messing with bird names over the past few years it may well have been a plover 2 years ago

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Artie, excellent exposure on all the colours, and the feather detail shows up nicely. I do like how the feather has got wedged behind the knee. Killer BG.

[Marc Mol]

The lighting and BG really make this for me Artie, you're wheting my appetite for Tanzania again.
My wife and I are off to Selous & Ruaha next Wednesday. Did you get down that way by any chance?

[Arthur Morris]

The lighting and BG really make this for me Artie, you're whetting my appetite for Tanzania again.
My wife and I are off to Selous & Ruaha next Wednesday. Did you get down that way by any chance?

Never heard of them :). Have a great trip. And thanks!

[Marc Mol]

Never heard of them :). Have a great trip. And thanks!

I'm surprised Artie
May I then suggest you get a hold of the movie The Ghost and the Darkness, here's the trailer-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncG6epwTlEE

[Satish Ranadive]

Arthur Sir,
Every thing has been said about this wonderful image,
Love the colors, very nice details, lights,beautiful eye and composition.

Regards,
Satish.