Secretary Bird

[Morkel Erasmus]

These awkward-looking birds can be found throughout Southern Africa and act as predators and scavengers. They particularly like to feed on snakes and are experts at killing them without getting struck.

I captured this one in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (in the Kalahari Desert). The time of day was already against me so I ran a cooling filter of 15% blue on the image to tone down the harsh light.

Your C&C most welcome...

Techs:
Canon 40D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 120mm
f5.6 @ 1/3200 SS @ ISO-400
Exp +0.3

[denise ippolito]

Morkel, Really cool bird and the walking pose is very nice. I like the HA and the sharpness. The lighting looks a bit harsh and I 'm not seeing the detail in the blacks-maybe they show up better in a close up shot. Very nice to see TFS.

[Kiran Khanzode]

What a funny name of a bird :-), I like long legs and the graceful leg/head position you froze. Would have liked a tighter crop to enjoy the details.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mork, interesting pose with the tilted head, as if something is flying above him. You have done well considering the light, and this is certainly sharp. Toning down the FG a tad may be an option, but still a great sighting and well captured.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Denise, Stu & Harshad Bhai - I have others which were closer, will post soon. I wanted to refrain from cropping here and leave some space.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat looking bird, and the walking pose looks good with those long stilt-like legs. I do find the bird gets lost in the BG...going for a lower angle (p.s. lying down on the ground if possible) would have helped blur out the BG for better separation of your subject. Harsh light still apparent. Can't wait to see your "closer" images :-)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The walking pose and head position look very good. I agree that a lower angle would have taken this to another level. Does it need a bit CCW rotation?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Daniel & Axel.

@ Daniel - In the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (which is a National Park) you are not allowed to exit your vehicle except at designated locations (with due reason - e.g. hungry lions walking about :)) so a lower angle was impossible.

@ Axel - I actually rotated it 2 degrees CW to get the legs level but it has given the ground a slightly skew appearance...

[Jim Fenton]

What a cool looking creature :)

I was going to comment on the subject isolation, but after reading your post about not being able to exit your vehicle so you don't get eaten (makes sense to me :).....I wonder if perhaps the subject could be made to look a little less lost in the background if it were cropped tighter with less BG?

Light isn't perfect, but certainly better IMHO to record something like this than just pass it by :)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

thanks Daniel & Axel.

@ Daniel - In the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (which is a National Park) you are not allowed to exit your vehicle except at designated locations (with due reason - e.g. hungry lions walking about :)) so a lower angle was impossible.

@ Axel - I actually rotated it 2 degrees CW to get the legs level but it has given the ground a slightly skew appearance...

Good to know, in this case I'm glad this is not at a lower angle, might have been your last image. :)

BTW, I would sharpen the area around the bird a bit less.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Axel. I reworked sharpening now, added another cooling filter and lowered overall contrast.

[Kiran Khanzode]

thanks Denise, Stu & Harshad Bhai - I have others which were closer, will post soon. I wanted to refrain from cropping here and leave some space.

Haha, Morkel, 'Harshad Bhai' is not yet in this thread...and he's not the only one who shoots Tigers ;-) ( I think my avatar confused you).

[Morkel Erasmus]

Kiran - I stand ashamed :o
I read the comments and was busy with something else, when I came back to reply I quickly scrolled up and it was indeed the avatar that threw me...:D

[Harshad Barve]

'Harshad Bhai' is not yet in this thread...and he's not the only one who shoots Tigers ;-)

Morkel bhai , Kiranbhai has huge collection of awesome tigers

Lovely image , great looking bird , repost looks better , due to angle , I think somewhat tighter crop will work best ,
better you cant get off vehicle , we have same rule only change is Lion replaced by tiger :D

TFS

[Marc Mol]

I like the pose and HA here Morkel, I've found them quite difficult to get close to (at least in Sthrn Africa, Kenya is different). So well done here and getting him out in the open.

[arash_hazeghi]

I have seen one of these guys in the zoo, they are HUGE. Interesting walking pose, thanks for sharing, may selectively blur the BG. Thanks for sharing this unusual bird, it is quite a challenge to photograph!