High-key Cape Vulture

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

A Cape Vulture waiting on the return of the sun and resultant thermals after a night of welcome rain in the Kruger National Park. I was at a lion kill on two occasions earlier in the morning (about 2 hours apart) and the kill was still undiscovered by vultures as they were all still waiting on ideal conditions before starting to scan the environment for overnight kills.

Really dark, gloomy conditions so I had to raise the shadows some in LR, followed by common toning & sharpening adjustments. About 50% crop.

All C & C's welcome

Nikon D7100
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED-IF (450mm FFE)
f/8 | 1/800s | 1000 ISO

[Shantanu Ambulgekar]

Great Sighting Tobie. I would have cloned out the branch which is pointing towards the neck of the vulture. It is bit distracting.
Otherwise, nice click.

Regards,
Shantanu Ambulgekar.

[shane shacaluga]

Nice image, like the details all round and composition.

The branch sticking up is a bit distracting but nature doesnt really think about photographers ;)

TFS

[Raybel Robles]

Nice image, I also agree with cloning the branch pointing to the bird's chest.

[Diane Miller]

Beautifully sharp, great pose. The perch is the perfect color and rugged texture, and I really like the white sky. I wonder if a bit more contrast on the face would be good.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Thanks for looking & commenting everyone! Pesky branch removed, a few adjustments made in the facial area to increase detail & contrast.

[Diane Miller]

I like the added detail in the face now! The branch didn't bother me (I thought) but I think it's much better with it pruned off.