Grey Crowned Crane

[Stu Bowie]

At my local pond in Pretoria, there are four of these Cranes, but they are always in the shade. I had just arrived and always see where they are to get a portrait shot for the morning. As usual, they were in the shade, and not always obliging for any sort of pose. This was the only one that was sort of obliging for a decent HA, and I took this grab shot. As per my settings, I wished for more light.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/125
F/6.3
ISO 1000

Hand Held.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Love it, Stu. What a hair-do, wonderful colors in the bird. I think I may have seen one of these at the zoo. Nice image, even nicer for the conditions you describe. A credit to the photographer, the equipment, and skill at post processing. Thank you for sharing.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Beautiful, Stu!

Enough light to bring out that lovely crown:) I like everything about this, well exposed, tack sharp at 1/125s, hand held (how do you do it?), stunning colours, nice HA, and great IQ. WOW.

Well framed and presented, I love your work

Warmest regards,

[keith mitchell]

Stuart you must have picked this Bg for this excellent piece of work, bird blends beautifully with it, perfect sharp detail.

Keith.

[dankearl]

A ton of nice details her and the light looks fine to me.
I would erase the highlight in the BG.......

[John Robinson]

A fine portrait whatever the conditions.
JohnR

[Karl Egressy]

Very impressive head dress. Excellent portrait shot, Stu.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow, that crown looks magnificent! Great job on the details. I like the comp. I'd probably raise the WB just a tad here. If allowed there have you ever thought of trying fill-flash for these guys in this type of lighting?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Looks pretty spectacular for a grab shot Stu!
I love it, and you mentioned what you would have liked. SO you take what you get I guess.
This would look awesome backlit!
TFS

[Randy Stout]

Stu:

The glowing golden crown, with nice details overall makes it very appealing. The backlight helps the red on the neck pop as well. Nicely captured.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[gail bisson]

Great grab shot Stu!!
Crown looks great and even though I never use flash myself have you thought of using it here? But even without the fill flash it looks fine.
Great IQ.
You could try warming the image up slightly to fool the eye into thinking it is not in the shade but I still like it as is!
gail

[Stu Bowie]

For those who have suggested a slightly warmer version, here it is.

[adrian dancy]

Superb ....the colours in the repost are much better.

[Jim Crosswell]

Lots to look at in this excellent image Stu! I like the crest, details, IQ, composition and BG. Repost looks good as well.