African Stonechat with meal

[hennieloots]

Hi Folks

Spent some time at a local bird sanctuary today with a few of these guys hunting/feeding along the road; they were very cooperative and got a few nice poses from them. Thanks for looking.

Techs: Canon 1D-X | Canon EF 600mm f4L IS II USM– 1/1600s @ F/7.1 & ISO: 800 |EB: 0 | HH on foot |
PP:
Crop – 40% of original
LR – Contrast added, Sharpened, Reduced Whites, Vibrance
PS6 – LM to reduce highlights, Selective sharpening

All comments and critique always welcome and appreciated!
Regards
Hennie

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely pose and chosen composition for this one. Prey is a huge plus.

[Andre Pretorius]

Morning Hennie

Lovely capture! These guys must turn the head just right to be able to get catch-light in eye- dumped many with head turned away!
Nice detail on blacks and whites.

Prey is huge bonus!

Personally I would crop a tad of bottom.

[MohsenVahedipour]

What a lovely species! It's very similar to our Siberian Stonechat. Like the pose, composition & prey item. TFS

[christopher galeski]

very nice,nice pose and BG,fod in beak a plus.

[hennieloots]

Thank you for looking and the kind comments Marina, Andre, Mohsen & Christopher; I appreciate as always.
Andre - I will play around with the crop some more, I was in 2 minds re the lower portion.
Cheers
Hennie

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Hennie, good look back pose showing off his catch, and the colours are spot on. I always prefer a high placement in the frame, so Im fine with the comp. I just wish parts of the perch in the LRC were in the DOF range. Too much glass

[hennieloots]

Ha-ha, Stuart. Thanks for having a look.
Cheers
Hennie

[Martin Dunn]

Nice capture Hennie.
Colours look spot on and the detail is super.
The pose works really well and the background shows the bird off well.
For the most part the perch works very well but - as Stuart said - it's a shame about the cluster of branches in the bottom right. It might be worth cropping that out, it would make the frame more square but you would still retain th ebest bits of the perch.

[Karl Egressy]

Great image, Hennie. I like everything about it!!!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful bird with a nice pose, excellent prey item(s), and a sweet BG. Apart from the oof twigs the perch looks very good too. I'd contemplate lightening the eye's iris a tad (but careful not to over do it), and if those white specks between the eye and bill are not part of the plumage then I would remove them for sure.

[hennieloots]

Thank you for all the kind comments everyone. I really appreciate!
Daniel - I very glad you mentioned the white spots, I fretted about keeping or removing them! They are not part of the plumage, but some foreign matter he picked up while hunting between the grasses, that is why I decided to leave it in the end....but you are right, they bugged me from the start, so they will go.

[David Salem]

Nice capture of this beauty. Great pose with the prey in the beak and I like the perch and the smooth BG . Well done