Long-tailed widowbird

[Stephen Earle]

Taken in Rietvlei Nature reserve, Pretoria South Africa. 40D, f8.0, 1/1250, ISO 400, 100-400.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Hi Stephen.

Great capture with a wonderful flight pose and eye contact. Well framed too with a very compimentary BG. I also like the wing tips that indicate action but I do find the whites a tad hot . Other wise a very striking image. thanks for sharing.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Νice looking bird,i like the colors and the wing position,I would prefer a little more sharpening

[Jim Poor]

This is a really awesome bird and its main feature is the tail of course. The wing position is nice, but I'd like to see an angle where the tail is more separate and distinct from the wing. The face & bill seem quite soft to me.

[Alfred Forns]

One amazing image Stephen Very high impact The dominating feature are the shoulder patches then I'm drawn to the white patch which is a big hot Would try duplicating the layer and multiplying

The layout position is great My eyes goes up and down the wing Glad there is detail there The face could use some sharpening With some images I like to go back and process again and compare with previous At times can see a difference !!!

[Stephen Earle]

Thanks for taking the time to comment on this image. Although I checked the whites on the shoulder patches against the histogram for clipping I agree that they appeared hot. I have cloned in some colour and sharpened the head as suggested. Any better?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very nice pose and BG. Adding to the other comments, it needs some CW rotation.

[Arthur Morris]

The repost is better. The comments above are all right on. The light is a bit contrasty...

later and love and pretty amazing image. artie

[Robert Amoruso]

Repost looks much better. Maybe it is just me, but i find the position of the head a bit odd and blending with the body.neck too much.

[Stu Bowie]

I think you have exposed the blacks nicely, and great to show the outspread wings, and all of the tail.

[Stephen Earle]

Thx guys for the honest crits, they've been enlightening as always. I'm seems that there's a good mix of positives with the problems:). I suppose this all sticks in our minds and makes us act slightly differently the next time we press the shutter.

[Glenn Bartley]

Such a cool bird. You have captured him nicely. It does look a tad soft to me.