Swallow-tailed bee-eater

[Chris van Rooyen]

This is another image from my trip to the Kgalagadi in June. The pink background is the OOF sand of a typical Kgalagadi red sand dune. I wished for better light but I did what I could under the circumstances. Comments welcomed as always:)

Camera Model: NIKON D3
Date/Time: 2009:06:24 1119
Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 900
Lens: 600mm
Focal length: 600mm

[Randy Stout]

Chris:

Lovely capture of a fine looking bird. Yes, the light is a bit contrasty, but I don't find the shadows distracting.
Sharp, well exposed, pleasant BG>

When I first looked at it, I thought it was a bit too bright, but I suspect that is really what it looks like in that environment with sand, etc.

I did try and pull the midtones down just a smidge, which was a bit softer looking, it probably isn't an accurate presentation of what you saw.

Hope you continue to recover successfully.

Randy

[LouBuonomo]

BG is to die for Chris. Beautiful bird, maybe a a touch more DOF to bring the tail and the rest of the perch in but really would love this in my files.

Lou

[Arthur Morris]

Stunning. Love the face, the neck feathers, and the killer BKGR. Note all that with the light slightly from the right the HA is is dead-solid perfect.

[Harshad Barve]

Stunningly beautiful bird and fantastic image
lovely BG , HA
Light looks harsh , but works well here
all in all I am loving this image
TFS

[Joe Senzatimore]

Stunnig image. Color,detail,exposure and BG all work together to make this one outstanding.

[Lorant Voros]

Nice to see an image again from you Chris. You have been missed. And it has your signature all over it as well. Stunning BG, beautiful bird, perfect HA, pose, color, well exposed. Light is a bit harsh, but it doesn't take anything away from the image. Big congratulations.

[Brian Barcelos]

Can't really add much to whats been said, I love his eye and that perch is very lovely. Congrats
By the way hows your eye doing, hope it's improving daily.

Brian

[David Fletcher]

Wonderful, wonderful shot Chris. This is pretty well a benchmark shot. For the environment, even the perch adds interest. Recovery soon we hope for you?

[Ramon M. Casares]

Great BG, detail, colors and comp, light looks nice to me and species is to die for.
Congratulations!

[Subharghya]

Excellent Image .. A Gorgeous Bird in a Wonderful setting .. Simply Gr8

[colincarter]

awesome shot, lovely background, very sharp and great composition. I think the light works well in this image.

[Tony Whitehead]

Superb plumage and eye detail, Chris. Really pops out against that BG.

[Morkel Erasmus]

simply stunning Chris. super sharp, light not that harsh.

[Erich Stevens]

Chris,

Light was strong but you countered it with perfect exposure IMO. Top marks!

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

beautiful composition,bg,pose and eye contact!!!

[Ryan Lambert]

Stunning image here Chris, the details is sublime, good colour, comp and bg...congrats

[Dominic Cantin]

All have been said ;) but I want to congrats you for this image :cool: Thanks for the view !

Dom :)

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions, always welcomed!! I'm glad to report that the worst is over as far as my eyes are concerned, the healing is well under way and I hope to be off the medication in a week or two. I got of lightly in the end - it seems I will be only be wearing a light pair of glasses to counter the after effects of the complications. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, well wishes and messages, it is HUGELY appreciated!

Randy I agree, looking at it now I think it is perhaps a tad too bright.

[Morkel Erasmus]

sorry didn't know you had medical problems - did you have an operation on your eyes? glad it's going better!

[Kiran Poonacha]

Congrats Chris, Beautiful image.. glad to hear you are recovering well.

[sree.kumar.h]

Like the feather details and colours. Like the way you have handled the harsh light. Like your composition, a perfect image.