This is a longtailed widow bird. As can be seen, these guys have such a lovely long tail, and in flight, the tail hangs down. Difficult to comp, but I captured this as the wind blew, thus showing the tail nearly parallel to the ground. I liked the flowery perch, and the surrounding flowers. Maybe a bit busy, but something different. Taken over a year ago, in a small nature reserve close to my house.
Canon 20D
100-400 L IS USM @ 220mm
1/1600
F/8
ISO 400
Oh my that's a dream bird, I must see this bird at some point in my life:)
The BG is busy but the bird takes a lot of attention so it is not bad.
I think the head is bit soft. Perhaps if you have room you could try
vertical crop with more space on the bottom. I would try to place
the tail more diagonally in the frame.
Good for you having this bird around!
Last edited by Ilija Dukovski; 07-14-2009 at 09:49 AM.
Wow what a tail! Lovely setting here, I am ok with the yellow flowers in the BG and find the perch excellent! Great HT. I would suggest to move the subject so that the eye is on the 2/3, 1/3 intersection by addin some room to the top, left and right. Also on my work monitor the sky looks a bit magenta/red for my taste, but this could very well be the monitor!
Great shot!
What an extraordinary looking bird. I can't envisage what one must look like in flight or even that they are very good at flying with a tail that long. You have captured the bird in a lovely setting and personally I always find it difficult to frame birds with long tails. The wider crop is definately better than the tighter one.
Stunning species! Lovel ambient and BG, good light, great pose, detail and colors. IMO a less square crop with more room all arround would work better. Congratulations!
nice one Stu! has to be Rietvlei :)
pity they only have those tails during mating season. you did well - love the comp, the original one. ditto head a tad soft but you can selectively sharpen that.
I agree with keeping the wider comp. I might suggest playing with the contrast or curves to make it pop a little bit more. Very interesting bird. Nice job.
Always difficult to get a good comp with these guys, you have done well here Stu.
I would have liked a tad more space in front and above him. The fact that he is looking back helps.
Stuart,
This is a very beautiful bird, and a very beautifully captured image. I think you've got a wonderful setting here that will probably allow for multiple possible compositions. As mentioned before, a vertical crop might work. Additionally, I have an idea of my own. IMHO I would like to see a more spacy frame that will show more of the OOF tannish BG, and proportionally more sky above the bird's head. Horizontally, I'd like to see the balance of the comp to shift a bit to the left. Other than that, I don't think the BG is too busy. The yellow and burgundy flowers are of lighter tones so it would not distract much from the blacks of the bird's plumage. Andy
Country Blossoms
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