Gambel's Quail on Barrel Cactus

[Bruce Enns]

Hi all, Just returned from a (too) short vacation in SE Arizona. It was our first visit to the area. Among the many new species we saw were a good number of Gambel's Quail.

Canon 7D with 500mm f/4 L + 1.4x II, Gitzo 3530 LS with Jobu Black Widow HD2
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/400sec, +2/3EV

All comments and critiques are greatly appreciated!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers!
Bruce

[Lorant Voros]

Nice bird in a nice pose, Bruce and the perch is interesting. On my screen it looks like the bird could use a little more contrast. Was it a set up? It is not easy to catch these guys on a perch like this I think.

Lorant

[Dumay de Boulle]

WOW!! What an amazing looking bird...Good sharp detail and BG

[Amir Reza Borhani]

Very nice shot, location, pose, light all are good, specialy background bokeh is beautiful and made subject to pop up.

[Stu Bowie]

Bruce, I like the calling pose, detail and colours. Interesting perch, and what a killer BG.

[Paul Kusmin]

Looks like early morning light, love the cactus perch and calling stance, BG is killer as well.

[Bruce Enns]

Thank you all for your kind comments. Lorant, no, this was not a set up, but I was feeding a small flock of these birds (they were in the 'backyard' of the place where we were staying), this guy jumped up onto the cactus of his own accord and starting calling, and I was there to take his photograph.:)

Cheers!
Bruce

[Gal Shon]

Comp, BG, Perch and calling pose turns it in to a fantstic image.
Agree with the more contrast comment.

[Ofer Levy]

Beautiful image !! Maybe a bit more room all around so the head won't be so close to the top but still awesome.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Neat perch, very nice calling pose, angle and BG. Adding to the other comments, on my monitor it looks as if there is a slight magenta cast.

[Bruce Enns]

Hi again and thanks Ofer, Gal, and Axel. Here is a repost with the contrast and colour cast addressed.

Cheers!
Bruce

[Steve Canuel]

Love the colors and textures in this one Bruce. Good looking subject doesn't hurt either. Repost looks real good.

[Bruce Enns]

Thanks very much Steve! These quail were a lot of fun.

Cheers!
Bruce