PROJECT : BIRDS IN HABITAT - WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATER

[Arno Ellmer]

This image was created on the papyrus-lined Okavango River in Botswana .
For many kilometers along the river you see these payrus reed fringes along the river bank,habitat of a multitude of diverse species, such as this bee-eater.

Not sure about the squarish crop : tried to include as much of the papyrus reed as possible, and not to leave too much space at the top.
Your comments and thoughts on this are welcome.

Canon MK III
EF 500mm f4
1/320
f/5.6
ISO 800
Exp. comp +1/3
shot from a boat

[Mike Milicia]

Great bird, lovely BG and interesting perch!
Would be interesting to see one including the entire perch. Might work well even it means bird is small in the frame.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arno, the perch is indeed very beautiful and creates a nice pleasing composition here. I think it will look better with traditional crop though.

[Randy Stout]

Arno:

I think the perch adds a lot. Lovely leading lines into the frame, nice bird. I am assuming this was shot very early, or very late because of the very warm light?

If you would like to post the original frame, uncropped, I think this could be a very fun image to try out different versions on. It is OK to do a repost of the original frame.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a neat perch, and I like how it mirrors the bill's curve (which looks crossed?). Nice warm tones, and I like the deep purples of the undertail coverts. I think it could use a crop at right without diminishing the papyrus' impact, but like the others I'd be interested to see the full frame version to see the possible options this image presents.

[Alan Lillich]

I like the crop. I think it is elegant, and don't at all mind the bird and papyrus sharing attention. The project includes habitat after all. Having both enhances the story being told. I like the echo on the reed ends at a large scale with the bird's breast feathers. The only minor change I suggest is a little more space on the left so that the space above, to the left, and below the bird is balanced.

[Julie Brown]

As mentioned above, the perch is very nice, and IMO does not draw attention away from the bird. Beautiful color and BG.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Arno, lovely light with warm colours. I like the curves in the reeds, and maybe adding a bit to the bottom take away the squarish crop. Great sighting.

[Arno Ellmer]

Thanks all for the constructive comments ! Always appreciated . :)