White Fronted Bee eater take off

[Stu Bowie]

When I visited the Pilanesberg National Park back in April wanting to get my fix on the Kingfishers, we were pleasantly surprised that the Bee eaters pitched up. These guys are extremely fast and the direction of their take offs are unpredictable. This is not ideal regarding the flight angle, and that the tail is not separated from the perch, but the next frame he has disappeared out the bottom of the frame. Taken early morning.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/3200
F/6.3
ISO 1000

Hand held

[keith mitchell]

Point taken about your self critique Stuart, bird and bg are superb imho.

Keith.

[Randy Stout]

Stu:

Beautiful bird, great wing display, colors, soft bg. I agree with your self critique, but a different perch might well of let him launch even more turned away from you, so I think you made the very best of it.

I believe you could lower the luminosity of the brightest areas in the perch to help reduce its impact, but minor tinkering really.

Cheers

Randy

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Stu,
Gorgeous bird, with great wing spread and lovely light. The BG is awesome. Gotta love that place. Miss it!
See ya soon!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - Gorgeous bee eater and wing spread. I too agree with your self-critique. Just gives you a reason to keep going back to Pilanesberg to get the perfect shot. Love the complementary colors of the bg too btw.

TFS,
Rachel

[Robert Kimbrell]

Hey Stu, A beautiful bird and the background is superb. A good wing spread and visible eye. Also agree with self assessment , but your should be happy with this.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

HI Stu, did you happen to add the catchlight?
Nice frame and your self assessment is pretty strong, but valid.
It is bloody sharp and the BG and light are great!

TFS

[William Dickson]

Wonderfull image Stu. So easy on the eye, lovely colours throughout. Great work

Will

[Stu Bowie]

did you happen to add the catchlight?

Thanks Akos. No catchlight added.

[Frank Schauf]

Great scene and setting you have here.

[gail bisson]

Love the light and the symmetry of the wings and the gorgeous Pilanesberg BG.
Agree about the direction of take off.
Would be thrilled to have this in my portfolio.
Gail

[dankearl]

Just an excellent topside view, Stu, a pleasure to look at....

[Bill Nuttall]

Hi Stu

wonderful image, different composition and all that,

seems a little over vibrant/saturated to me … have you added anything in pp?

but as I said a wonderful which you must be proud of

[Sidharth Kodikal]

This can't be easy, Stu! A unique view with amazing light and details. The BG is to die for as well.
I never had much luck with this combo, but you consistently nail them.

[Stu Bowie]

seems a little over vibrant/saturated to me … have you added anything in pp?

Thanks Bill. Believe it or not, no saturation added at all. This location is famous for its BG's in early morning light. Infact I dont touch saturation in PS at all in my PP work.

[David Salem]

A bit better HA would have been nice but still a killer frame none the less. The colors and details look great and that morning light is fantastic. I like the incision of the perch in this nice take off pose. Well done Stu.