White Crowned Lapwing with Breakfast

[Stu Bowie]

This is first for me capturing this species, and a big bonus with him catching his breakfast. Once again, alongside the same dam as my previous posts from my recent trip to Kruger. Taken early morning.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300 F/2.8 +1.4 TC = 420mm
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 800

Hand held from the car.

[Ian Wilson]

Stunning image Stuart. Beautiful light, good composition, technically spot on. The food item provides a wonderful point of interest. Well done! Regards, Ian.

[keith mitchell]

Stuart this is excellent, amazed at the detail you have got in the plumage, that guitar string worm is taking some pulling out.

Cheers Keith.

[christopher galeski]

loverly image ,good detail and nice light,now this is what you call stretching a meal to go further,well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, congrats on ticking another first off the list, trust you had a good time in the Kruger.

Nice detail and kudos it getting this action. Personally I might loose the blue creeping in at the foot of the image in the water, guess it's a reflection? Like the subtle shadow on the water.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - Congrats on getting this one! Great detail and sharpness. Nice control of the exposure. Breakfast and the shadow are certainly bonuses that take the image to another level.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marina Scarr]

Killer image, light and colors, Stuart. The bird is popping off of the screen and the prey is a huge plus.

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderful first time for me to see a picture of this bird
iq looks fantastic, colours are lovely , the catch makes it special

[Daniel Cadieux]

That worm is stretched to the max!! I like everything here, except for the bit of pale water at very bottom...I'd fill that in with some cloning. Super nicely done Stu!

[Richard Flack]

Super image Stu. These are such cool birds. I love the spurs on them. Great that you got this action shot with good light and lovely detail. Agree with Dan regarding the pale water. Nice one!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the kind words and feedback.

With regards to the comp at the bottom, I already cropped away from the original, as there was quite a bit of water and a bit of reflection of the legs. As posted, I wanted to leave a bit of space.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the exposure, pose and details! well done

[Binu John]

Excellent pose and details! Love the colors, light and action! Perfect timing to capture the action! Well done!

[David Salem]

That's a great looking shot Stuart. Very cool looking bird. Great techs with killer exposure and detail in the feathers and the head and I relly like the stretched out worm. Very nice!!

[gail bisson]

I love the light and the behavior captured. Excellent IQ.I also like the shadow.
I wish that the little sandbar wasn't there but feel the action trumps this minor issue.
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the kind words. Always appreciated.

[Satish Ranadive]

Marvelous image, Stuart Sit.
Love the pose with worm in the beak, beautiful colors, great details, loghts ,nice BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Shawn Zierman]

Handsome bird photographed in some sweet light! There is a lot to enjoy here, and what a perfect example of an image where shooting at a lower angle would have not worked as well as your perfect shooting angle here. The complete shadow and the darkly colored water are great features to this image. The highlights on the bird really glow in this light quality, but are expertly exposed. Heck of an image sir.