A common species of our reed beds.
The male dashes from patch to patch ,perches prominently and puffs the breast feathers in spectacular fashion,while uttering a sizzling song.
The female (and non-breeding male) is a drab ,non-descript brown colour.
Would have wished for a better perch.
Canon Mk IV
500mm f4
1/1000
f/7.1 Av
ISO 800
EC +1/3
Hand held
Another reason I need to get to Africa....a lovely bird, colorful, singing pose and mouth open all make this image work.....what perch? :)....very nice only thing I might try to clone out is the OOF branch at bottom of image.
This bird is sizzling hot with those brilliant red/orange/yellow feathers contrasting with that black belly. I agree that the OOF branch could be cloned out. Do you have a bit more room to add on the bottom? The tip of the tail butts into the bottom edge.
Congratulations on getting a behavioral shot of this stunning bird. I know it can't be easy to shoot this bright-and-dark species, especially in that intense African sun. On my monitor, few details in the blacks seem to have been preserved; the part of the breast facing me is a large black blotch. Nancy also makes some good points.
What an incredible challenge and representation. Background, pose and sharpness are just great. Agree with more room at the bottom. On my monitor the right half of the black "chest/belly" has plenty of detail but the left is surely lacking. JR