I took this photo a few years back. There was a small group of these gorgeous parrots feeding on the roadside flowering plants and every now and then one would change location within the patch.
As soon as I saw this bird take off, I locked on and fired a few frames. This is the one I kept.
Canon EOS 1DMkIIn
500/4L IS + 1.4x
ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/4000th
Evaluative metering
Av mode, 0 EC applied
No crop, this is the full frame converted from RAW.
Slight NR to BG. Removed about 8 dust bunnies.
Lovely flying image, Akos. I like the pose with plumage detail on the upper surface of the wings. The dark BG works beautifully. Looks like a female with the red iris.
Thanks for sharing this one. I spent a few months in Perth in the late 90's and these were everywhere. No matter how often I saw them I never tired of seeing them in their flocks. Nice memories.
Regarding the shot itself, I am a big fan of this wing position with banking shots, and the light on the feathers and indeed the face is just about perfect. A very well executed shot
Simply outstanding in virtually every way, especially the wing position and head angle. Exposure, focus and DOF are excellent, too. I rather like the way the soft warmth of the background along the bottom of the frame complements the bird's coloration, too.
A beautiful shot and well worth revisiting several years later.
Hi Akos, excellent flight pose, and you even have a great head turn and eye contact. The light looks good, which in turn has brought out the colours so well. Nice and sharp, and I do like the darker BG as well as the lighter strip running along the bottom of the frame. Well captured mate.
Exelent BIF image. Love how the bird pops from the dark BG. Beautiful how he is looking at you. The old cameras performed great in good hands:). Well done, my friend.
Appreciate the feedback everyone. I think I just got very lucky with this shot.
IMHO, there is nothing wrong with older cameras. I can happily shoot at ISO 1600 with this old tank of a thing and still get really high-quality images, as long as I expose properly.
When looking at an image, I think most folks just "know" whether it is a great image or not! The words come later. Well, I knew immediately this was a great image!
Now comes the words...Excellent head and eye contact and sharp details.
Excellent body/wing position. Perfect OOF background! Excellent composition.
What a lovely spot light effect !! just magnificent. Superb banking pose with great show of dorsal view and beautiful HA.
Love the way parrot pops up against dark BG.
I have heaps of respect for full frame flight shots, especially when composition is just about right.
The pose is perfect, as is the IQ. And I'm digging the dramatic lighting. What's the BG? It sure sets off the bird nicely.
Well done sir
What a cracking top notch flight shot. The background colour exposes the bird brilliantly and the detail on the bird is exquisite. (I'd be happy with the 1DMKiiN even now :)
Thank you for your very, very kind words. I am blushing.
The attachment below shows the area. What you see is a bright line of dirt most likely at the bottom of the frame with the bird flying above the barbed wire fence, then the Blue Mountains escarpment in the background. The shot was taken about 1km to the right, where there was ample flowering vegetation on this day. The swamp here has been awesome for raptors and waterbirds for years and is part of a large lake system with fields of some (nearly) 2,000ha. Sadly, the mining company who is digging out the rocks and sand around this quarry are handing it over to the local government, who are planning on ruining the area with nearly 5,000 houses (shoulder-to-shoulder no doubt), powerboats and other disastrous things. The largest Australian raptor (Wedge-tailed Eagle) has a representative pair here who use this entire basin for hunting and raising their chicks. Not going to be a surprise if they move out of the area once the development happens. Considering they are only the second pair I know of that breed in the Sydney basin, it is crazy. Personally, I have observed 19 of Australia's 24 diurnal raptor species at this lake system over the past five years. Sad times are coming for most of them.
Many thanks for the comments everyone, I sincerely appreciate them.
That is flipping awesome!! The best Galah IF shot I have ever seen. One to be proud of. Use that for the cover of your Website, or let me use it for mine:) Nice capture
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
That is flipping awesome!! The best Galah IF shot I have ever seen. One to be proud of. Use that for the cover of your Website, or let me use it for mine:) Nice capture
You're way too kind Dave! You can have it mate if you want! I love my raptors too much. I should probably change my webpage home image to a raptor photo really.
Galah on the move
Ákos Lumnitzer thanked for this post
Originally Posted by Sidharth Kodikal
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