Abyssinian Roller.

[keith mitchell]

Nikon D4
Nikon 300mm 2.8
1/4000@F4
iso 1000.

One from the Gambia some time ago.
Thanks for taking a look.

[Mike Poole]

No nits from me on this one Keith, Really nice head turn, interesting perch, lovely graduated BG, ticks all the right boxes.

Mike

[Marina Scarr]

Absolutely love your perch, bird and BG however, your comp is not working for me. I would go vertical all the way here and crop from the bottom and left. Put the corner of your perch in the LLC of your frame and give a little more space on top. I don't think the find the bottom left portion of your perch adding anything to the image and it only takes away from your amazing bird, head turn and BG.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice indeed Keith love the colours and a pleasant pose too. Details are excellent.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Keith, clean & simple, whats not to like here?
Good detail with just the right amour of sharpness. Killer backdrop, with nothing to distract the eye from the main subject. Nice work.

TFS
Steve

[christopher galeski]

very nice Keith,nice pose,like the perch and BG,nice details,agree on cropping vertical,the bird as the look of a type of shrike,not saying it is.thanks for showing.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks to you all.Marina I do understand the points you are making and here is my attempt at a repost. Left most of the perch because I do like the natural texture of this post that was sticking up on the beach and the bird was good enough to land on,also wanted as much of that nice warm African sky in the OP.Don't know if this was the way that you are thinking or have I made it to square?Agree perhaps shows the bird better.

Keith.

[William Dickson]

Lovely clean image Keith. Love the colours on the bird and perch. Nice details throughout and the BG fits.

Well done

Will

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful bird and super sharp. Nice light. Perch nice, but I am with Marina on the image design. Repost is a bit better.... Can you post a JPEG that represents the original capture? a

[annmpacheco]

Hi Keith,
what a lovely image, and id be interested in seeing the vertical post if you choose. Such a beautiful bird and perch, pose, and details make this outstanding. BG too! Well done.

[David Salem]

That is flipping stunning Keith! Everything looks great to me. I like the repost but I could also see a full vertical with most of it taken off the left. What a great looking bird. One to be proud of!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Perfect, a beautiful bird I have never seen before. Thank you for sharing, Keith.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks to you all.Arthur this is the original j peg which I have just downsized,had to do some image rotation of the perch and crop it for the OP.Would be very interested to see what you would do with it.

Keith.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Keith, Image quality held up fairly well. In general, it is best to avoid such huge crops. Below is one option. a

[keith mitchell]

Thanks for that Arthur,must say I do prefer the landscape crop showing more of that African sky.Have a few more of this bird I will try your suggestions on my next post.

Keith.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW Keith. The key is simply to avoid the huge crops... Best of luck. a

[Ritesh Nangare]

lovely bird.....great lighting and great shot here..... the head turn is killer here... love the colours and sharpness....

TFS..

[MiroslavMaric]

What a beauty! Like the pose, BG, perch and color of the bird. Regarding frame agree with David S. comment.

Well done! TFS.

Cheers,
Miro

[keith mitchell]

Thank you Ritesh and Miro much appreciated.

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Keith,

I absolutely love this, superb capture and great work in the field. Artie's RP nails it with the new comp - my cuppa:)

Apologies for coming in so late, I just wanted to say the colours are fantastic, nice looking perch, perfect HA from the subject. Beautiful looking bird, and thank you for sharing:)

Warmest regards,

[keith mitchell]

Thank you Gabriela very much appreciated.

Keith.