Spoonbill

[Stu Bowie]

I dont have many spoonbill images in my files, so I was happy to get this on my last visit to the Pilanesberg nature reserve two weekends ago. The BG is an OOF mountain.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/2000
F/6.3
ISO 800

Exp Comp +0.67
Hand Held

[Harshad Barve]

Tack sharp image Stuartbhai , lovely wing pose , HA and BG
TFS

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Whenever I see one of these, it always makes me think someone stuck a US. spoonbills head on a sandhill crane.
Nice techs, comp,like the shadow.
The BG is nice, but I might be tempted to try a version with slightly lower brightness, to help the bird pop more. It is nice as is, just an option.

Cheers

Randy

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Sharp with great detail, colours, pose & composition. Well done Stu!

[Aidan Briggs]

Great light, BG, and wing position. Well done Stuart!!

[Doug Brown]

I thought it was a Sandhill Crane when I looked at the thumbnail! The bird looks great. I'd like to see a repost with Randy's BG suggestion.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all your feedback guys. Unfortunately, we dont have Sandhill Cranes in this part of the world. Here is my repost with the BG toned down as per Randy's suggestion.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

To my eye, this is an improvement, more separation between bird and BG.

Cheers

Randy

[Hendri Venter]

Your repost rocks mate. The bird is nicely separated from a killer Mankwe BG. They've got small eyes but you still managed to get a nice glint.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Repost rocks!! Another vote for the sandhill crane :)
Best,
Nicki

[Nico Steenberg]

Awesome comp and bg. Bird is well exposed with great detail in the whites. Well done Stu !

[Colin Knight]

Wonderful catch. That eye contact is spectacular!

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent details, wing position and BG well done

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Wing position, sharpness and BG look very good and the repost is an improvement. I might lighten the shadow on the far wing. Is this bird dirty? I thought they were white. :)

[Michael Stern]

Love everything about this image!
Mike

[Tony Whitehead]

Good job, Stu. Lovely and sharp with great BG. Wonder about nudging the bird marginally higher in the frame.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Beautiful flight image and the detail is awesome as well the flight pose and BG. A real winner Stuart !!!!:)

[Gal Shon]

So beautiful,
Light and eye contact are superb. well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Judy, Gal, thank you so much.