Here I come

[Stu Bowie]

Visiting this Vulture hide, you are certainly guaranteed to come away with all sorts of incoming poses from these wonderful birds. These Vultures are totally wild, and come down from the surrounding mountains to feed on carcasses left out for them to feed on. The BG is as shot from camera. The personal at this center study their behaviour on a daily basis. Some of these Vultures have tags for ID purposes, and others have tiny tracking devices on. They have been recorded to have flown to the Kruger Park - 400km away and back again.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +1.4 TC = 420mm
1/2000
F/6.3
ISO 800

Exp comp +0.33
Hand held from inside the hide.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the incoming pose, wing position, composition, setting and under wing detail. The outstretched head and feet really make the image for me. Very well done Stuart.

[John Robinson]

Looks like hes aiming for me !or should I say -you !
Great stuff Stuart. IMHO just a shame about the tree Nothing you could do though at the time. Maybe a tone down a bit on it would help.I would suggest cloneing but some don't like too much.
Still a fine job whatever.
John

[keith mitchell]

Hey Stuart you have really caught the action on this one, those outstretched legs/feet and the fixed stare make this for me.
Keith.

[William Dickson]

Lovely image Stuart. I love the streched neck and talons, the wingspan is awesome. Great POV and to top it all a lovely natural looking BG Well done

[Steve Kaluski]

Hey Stu, lovely incoming flight shot, like the splayed feet & angle wings ready for landing. These guys certainly make a racket when they fly overhead on takeoff, massive birds for sure. Good choice in framing/crop, think your only option is cloning for the tree which is a pain, but hard to avoid when out in the field and cease the moment. Nice colour palette, all works well.

TFS
Steve

[Daniel Cadieux]

Now that is a dynamic pose!! The overhead light served you well here. I love the background except for that tree. I think toning it down via low opacity cloning would work well. I'd also look into eliminating the few flying bits as they do not add to the image IMO. Good call on the pano crop...looks great.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[Don Railton]

great image Stu... Its all been said but this a very impressive bird well captured..

[Doug Schurman]

Great capture and a unique body position in flight. Exposure looks good for tough light. I might try cloning out the feather and/or dust detail floating above the wings.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

One of your nicest ones on these birds yet, Stu! He really looks focussed on his landing and I love the sunlight on top of his wings. 'Nuff said about the BG - the bright wing tops and sharp facials pull the attention away from anything else which might be a distraction AFAIC.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Another exceptional image, the action has been caught splendidly and as usual you have good light under the wings. That really is a magical pose - well done.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - This works a treat. Great incoming pose and sharpness and I like the colors a lot. Difficult to avoid the tree and not a deal breaker for me. The wing extension takes this over the top for me.

TFS,
Rachel

[Iain Barker]

Great incoming shot Stuart. Lot of detail under the bird and love the spread wings.

[Satish Ranadive]

Fantastic incoming pose you have captured, Stuart Sir.
Every thing is absolutely superb.

Regards,
Satish.