Pintailed Whydah

[Stu Bowie]

Another inflight capture of a very difficult character. These guys fly very erratically, thus difficult to lock on focus. They are also extremely small birds. Taken last weekend in overcast conditions. I wished for more light to gain ss. This is the sharpest I managed to capture. The BG was naturally OOF, and is grassland dotted with flowers.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/1000
F/6.3
ISO 800

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand Held

[Doug Brown]

Another nice one of this species Stuart. I like the compo. Might run Shadows/Highlights to get more detail around the eye. I'd also tone down the bright yellow spot at the bottom of the frame.

[LouBuonomo]

I line the comp here, can't be easy getting this guy. Well Done.
Lou

[Gal Shon]

That is not an easy tail to compose... wonderful BIF capture, well done.
I wish the bird were a little bigger in the image (I want to see more of it)
and for some more details on the black.

[denise ippolito]

Stuart, This is a really nice composition showing off it's lovely tail. I think the BG colors are terrific. Some good points have been mentioned.:)These must be extremely hard to lock focus on.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Good wing position, sharpness and BG. I think Doug has a point about the blacks, a slightly larger version would make it easier.

[Ted Willcox]

Nice capture, good composition. I also agree with toning down the yellow.
Ted

[Markus Jais]

Great shot. I like the wing position and the soft light. The head angle also is perfect. And what an amazing tail!!
I agree with the others about toning down the yellow a little bit.

Markus

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Well done bro. Great catch again. You must have these birds mesmerized with your haka. Oh, that's the Kiwis. :D

Either way, I think you could do a few improvements to the lower part of the frame using quick masks. For enhancement of course. Doug's mentioned the bright yellow flowers. Congrats bro! :)

[Marc Mol]

I feel you have a done a good job just capturing this elusive and flighty species Stuart. (I don't have anything decent on my files).
Getting to see enough of the main body of the bird is always a problem with these long tailed species given the allowable image size.
TFS

[DustinFinn]

Nice work, really love that background and the contrast it gives to the bird to make it pop.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice one Stuart, tough to get shot!!! Love the long tail, a more visible eye will take this to the top.

[Vida van der Walt]

This is wonderful Stu. The colours and bg are stunning and a super pose with sharp detail. Must be so difficult to capture in flight and you nailed it!:)

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the kind comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

I can see why it is difficult to compose. Wow...what a bird and a superb capture. loved the DOF and that BG. The entire bird is nicely in focus. Well executed and exposed Stuart.

[Cindy Mead]

what an incredible tail! I really like the contrasting colors and the soft oof bg sets off the bird so well. Just enough blur in the wings/tail to give this a sense of motion, a really well composed image.

[Zoltan Kovacs]

Fantastic tail! Very nice flying comp. I like the BG and the contrasting colors. Congrat!

[Stu Bowie]

Kaustubh, Cindy, Zoltan, thanks for your much appreciated comments.

[James Salywoda]

I missed this one Stuart and its a beauty for sure I like the long trailing tail an excellent shot.:)