Black Crake

[Morkel Erasmus]

Captured this guy from the side of a small boat on a pond near the Kruger Park (I was with Hendri Venter and Mark Dumbleton).

We are leaving for a road-trip tomorrow, so I'll see you guys in about 10 days!

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 275mm
f5.6 @ 1/3200 SS @ ISO-1000
Exp +0.7

I was on Shutter Priority as we were actually on a mission to photograph diving Kingfishers

[Robert O'Toole]

Morkel,

Low angle is great it really makes the image pop. Sharpness is excellent and the foot up pose looks good. Good job on the exposure.

Noise looks very good for ISO 1000.

Good luck on the trip!

Robert

[Arthur Morris]

Morkman, You are getting too good. Killer detail in the BLACKs and stunningly sharp. The usually elusive bird is perfectly square to the back of the camera and the 1/2 degree head turn towards you is perfect for a field guide portrait and the raised foot showing the toes is icing on a loverly cake.

[Phil Ertel]

I like the pose with the raised foot. I like how there is enough detail in the background to give us a feel for the birds environment. I find the image to be well exposed with good detail (especially in the darks). My only suggestion would be to tone-down or remove the bright highlight just above the raised foot as it keeps catching my eye. Thanks for sharing.

[Andrew Merwin]

Beautiful image Morkel. Have a very safe & fun trip.
Andrew

[Robert Amoruso]

You go on a lot of trips Morkel.:D

I agree with the other comments above. Bird photography done right. Nice work.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi Morkal,
Great Low angle shot with Excellent Exposure and fine details. Have as safe trip with plenty of nice shots.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks so much for the invigorating comments everyone...glad you like it.

Robert - I choose my work carefully...rather a job with more leave than more pay is what I say :)
Besides, this will be our last long road trip before our first child arrives in February :D

[Stephen Earle]

Enjoy your trip Morkel. This is excellent as everyone has said.

[christopher galeski]

good shot Morkel,its all been said,good eye contact,like the green BG,good detail in the blacks,nice one.thanks.

[Bill Dix]

Wonderful shot. It's got it all, and all has been said. Wow, are the eyes really that red!

[Deborah Harrison]

A killer shot!! - nothing to add to the comments above. I particularly like the low angle and the poised foot.

Enjoy while you can, fatherhood will take up a lot of your time:)

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the kind comments everyone - their eyes are really that red!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Morkel, you have too much fun man. This one is a cracker of a shot. great details in black, great IQ for iso1000. Pose is awesome and so is the low angle.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Kaustubh and Peter...

Peter this was very close to Kruger on a sugar farm near Malelane :)

[Marc Mol]

Great detail, lighting, clarity & BG Morkel, like this a lot.

this will be our last long road trip before our first child arrives in February :D

......Good luck, your life will never be the same!:D

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Marc :)

[Chris Kotze]

Super exposure angle and detail, Lovely shot Morkel

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks a lot Chris...