On my recent trip to South Florida, at Anhinga Trail, the vultures were everywhere. Perhaps the freeze killed off some exotics and the vultures were earning there keep. Anyway, you couldn't step anywhere without tripping over these guy's. So...I grabbed some images of them close up. Almost full frame here. I thought they came out rather well. Up here in Maine you cannot get within 100 feet of them. The farmers and hunters shoot them, so they are scared of any human presence.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Shooting Date/Time 2/13/2009 15:36:32, Shutter Speed 1/640Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F8.0, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation +1/3, ISO 320, Lens: EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM. On Gitzo Tripod with Wimberley 2 Head, eye level kneeling down. Subject was sitting on the rails about 10 yards down the trail from the head, left side. Nice light made this one a keeper for me.
Some may not think they make good subjects, but I think they are "good looking" in their own way. I like the way they hop along as they move about. They even ran and hoped along the fence rail in order to take off, just to fly 20 feet down the trail to get away from a more aggressive vulture. They ran off the Turkey Vultures.
I think that vultures are perfectly fine subject matter, and you've done well with this image. Great eye contact and a nice profile pose. I like the warm BG. I might selectively sharpen the top of the head.
BEautiful lighting in this capture Grady and I really love the color of the BG. Well done and I am glad you enjoyed your trip south. Thanks for sharing.
Nice pose and head angle, Grady. The colors and light are beautiful. If this was mine, I think I would crop about half the distance from the right frame edge to the back of the head. Well done.
Grady,
Beautiful image. I love vultures.
My only suggestion would be a little more room above and more room in front of the vulture.
I like the line of the neck so rather than cropping it, I would prefer the vulture be set back in the frame by having more canvas in front.
Bro
For me this is a straight portrait shot, and it doesn't need more room. However, I do believe it needs a tad more sharping. Great capture with nice detail and light.
American Black Vulture
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