Taken this morning,this bird landed in front of me,could not have been more than 15ft from me,had the tripod and lens over my shoulder,thought as soon as I lift the lens off my shoulder,this bird would be off,but it let me take a few shots,then it was off.cannon500mm L F4,EXT 1/4 giving me 700mm FL,7D,tripod,ISO800,F5.6,1/2000S,small crop from right,touch sharpening for web.could not do anything about the position of the sun.
I actually like the light angle here Chris. The bird's face is nice and evenly lit with warm light. Sounds like you reacted quickly to this opportunity. Given more time, I might have tried for a lower angle. The complimentary colors on the rock are a great touch. As for your composition, my first thought was that the image feels unbalanced with too much weight on the right, so upon reading that you cropped from the right, I would add it back, and trim from the left, even if the bird becomes a bit centered.
Hi Chris, I like the relaxed pose - seems like he's warming from the sun, although you state he didnt hang around too long. Lovely colours on this fellow.
Chris with the time you had recon you made a cracking job of this, I do understand what Grace means and would be good to see, Stuart is so right about the relaxed pose ant the lovely colours, excellent shot.
I like the light oo, and the pose is good with a nice head turn. Comp suggestion is good, and I do wish the bird had perched higher on the rock. Well done for the little time you had to react.