Jackal Buzzard

[Stephen Earle]

7D
ISO 800
1/2500
F 5.6
500 F4 IS

Giant's Castle, Kwazulu Natal, South-Africa

[Jan Fourie]

Nice Shot Stephan .I like the posture,BG,Exp and comp
jan:)

[Deborah Hanson]

First off - nice image. I like the wing positions, the head position (looking where it's going), spread tail feathers, feet with talons ready to land. Details are sharp. Also like the small bit of grass and flowers in the photo. Colors of the bird and perch (rock) and background work very well together.
Question: I really like the composition. If mine I would have probably cropped the right hand side more than you have because I would think that there was too much open space on that side - but then I don't think it would work as well as your composition. My question is why. Is it because of the line of the rock and the second wing leading one's eye that way? (hope you don't mind the question, just trying to learn).

Thanks
Deb

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic bird. I've got to see one!
Great wing pose and very good BG. Wonderful exposure. I only wish for a little more eye contact.

Markus

[Ken Watkins]

Steve,

I just wish that the one that we often see near our house would do someting like this rather than just sit on the phone poles.

This shows the wonderful colours perfectly.

[lee bothma]

lovely shot Stephen, good pose, BG and exp! i know how hard it is to get a clear eye on these guys when they land,

Tell me, how did you find the 7D and 500mm there? was it not too long for the vultures?

[Stephen Earle]

Thanks guys for the comments. Deb, the comp for me has three elements. Firstly as you said to create the diagonal with the wing and secondly to include a bit of space through which to convey the vastness of the settimg. Lastly, it looked good after several tries.:)

Lee, in some instances the 500 was a bit too much on the 7D and then in others it worked perfectly. Having used both, I reckon that the best focal length on a 1.6 body at GC is 400mm. On the 1.3 bodies, the 500.

Especially with the 7D and it's extra resolution.

[lee bothma]

thanks for the response Stephen, i am going soon an was wondering what lense to take with. looks like a 400 2.8 it is:) thanks again!