Southern Masked Weaver

[Chris van Rooyen]

I photographed this weaver in a friend's garden in Namibia last year. He was so engrossed in his nest building, he hardly noticed us as he swooped in with nest material. I broke my own rule of 1/3200 for small birds in action, but in this instance, I feel the partial motion blur perhaps add to the dynamic feel. Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Date/Time: 2008:09:29 07:25:49
Shutter speed: 1/1250 sec
Aperture: 7.1
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 1000
Focal length: 500mm

[Harshad Barve]

Beautiful image Chris , nice wing blur , killer pose and nice BG , nesting materail is added bonus
TFS

[David Fletcher]

Rules are made so they CAN be broken. (it gives the rule makers something to get uptight about... ). Works a treat and the wing blur adds nicely.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I think the motion blur is a really good idea here since it shows how fast the bird flies, I also like the composition and BG, the blade of grass adds to it.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Chris, A lovely image! I like the composition. The placement of the bird in frame just right for my taste. I like the blurred wings as I find the sense of motion it introduces to the image to be pleasing. I also like how the blade grass leads my eye into the frame to the bird's head. I think the colors of the background compliment the bird very nicely.
I am a bit curious on the coloration of the eyes as they appear to be different colors. I not familiar to species but I am assuming that it does not naturally have different colored eyes. Is this assumption correct? If so, I would try and process so that the eyes were closer to the same color. However, I do think this is very nice as presented and would very happy with it has presented.

Thanks much for sharing.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Like the posture & wing blur. Just enough eye visible to make it work & a great BG to round it of nicely.:)

[Ashay Dhavale]

Excellent shot. Loved the compo, the wing spread and the motion depicted. Loved the diagonal compo with the grass blade balancing the compo neatly. Both the eyes are clearly as well.

[Peter Farrell]

What a great capture! The wing/tail blur is a definite positive, especially since the rest of the bird is sharp.
The BG color is a perfect compliment to the birds coloring.
Peter

[Kurt Bowman]

I agree with otherws that you choice to have some motion blur adds to this image, but what really makes it over the top for me, is the placement of the bird in the frame. Terrific choice for comp....love how the nesting material is coming into the frame diagonally.

[Danny J Brown]

Terrific shot, Chris. A real beauty.

[Jan Fourie]

very good inflight image Chris,i like the colours,comp and nice wing blur
jan:)

[Kris Mortensen]

Spectacular image! I love this one. I'm drawn straight to the eye, and then I take in the rest of the dreamlike blur. A real winner!!