This was taken at the Azores Islands. The grey wagtail that occurs over there is a subspecies of the european one. The European Grey Wagtail has an eyebrow stripe that extends all the way up to the bill base, the Azorean one doesn't. I caught this one while getting some food for its chicks.
Canon EOS 50D 1/1000 f8
ISO 400
Canon 100-400 F3.5-4.5 L IS USM
Focal Length 400mm
The food makes this image for me .. I wish the bird sat on a less bright perch ... I have cropped it a bit from left and reduced the Midtone of the rock and increased the Midtone of the black feathers selectively via Levels and decreased the whole image midtones mildly via curves .. Pls have a look, hope you will like it
I like the angle, sharpness, BG and the food item adds to it. Looks as if he is taking a break from collecting food. I like the original and might only lighten the eye a bit. While I see Subharghya's point the repost has a slight magenta cast on my monitor.
Very lovely bird and great exposure. I like the perch and BG is nice. Head angle is good and the flies put this over the top. Congrats
Brian
P.S. What island was this captured in, my parents immigrated to the U.S. from Flores and I'm hoping to go there by next year with my camera. Haven't been there since I was 12 and now I'm 31. Hope you enjoyed your trip.
Mr. Krijn, I like this one. Esp. the HA, the bug(s), and the BKGR. I could go for the rock 1/2 between the two.
The only thing that bugs me (oops, sorry about the pun), is the raised near-wing.
You wrote, "I caught this one while getting some food for its chicks."
That was a nice thing for you to do! :)
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Lovely one... Loved the HA and pose, the repost works well as the rocks looks too bright in the OP. The feed in the mouth sure add to this.. congrats...
Thanks everybody for the constructive suggestions!
To respond:
Subharghya,
Thanks for taking the time to do a repost. I really like the darkening of the stone/perch. Composition wise I think I'll stick to the original. I feel especially with subjects with a long tail like this + a headturn that is not the exact opposite of the body direction that it is best to keep a little more room for the bird to look into in this case on the left, this is highly personal though.
Brian,
This was taken at Pico, but I am sure that there are more than enough individuals flying around on Flores as well. I was lucky that this individual had its nest close by, so I didn't have to lure them in. I didn't really try too hard and got resonable pictures of the chaffinch (azorean subspecies), the grey wagtail (Azorean subspecies), the cory's shearwater and you could probably get good enough pictures of the Canary. The islands are really good for whale and dolphin watching and photography but be sure to bring a light lens that has a good AF because otherwise it can be a very frustrating excersision (like with me). Have fun over there!
Artie,
"The only thing that bugs me (oops, sorry about the pun), is the raised near-wing"
I can see why it bugs you, but what was I to do? Sometimes you take what you can get.......
"You wrote, "I caught this one while getting some food for its chicks. That was a nice thing for you to do! :) "
What can I say I am generally just a very nice guy.... :D But thanks for the language correction, sometimes the double dutch pokes its head around the corner
And please just call me Krijn ;) :D
Thanks to all the others for commenting and suggesting, very much apprieciated!!!
Cheers,
Krijn
Last edited by Krijn Trimbos; 08-06-2009 at 08:48 AM.
Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea patricia)
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