Take-Off

[Kurt Bowman]

Captured this take-off shot from the outer pools at Bosque in mid-February over my birthday.

1D MIV
500mm f/4
1/1250 at f/7.1
ISO 400

[Dave McGowen]

Front side of the wings look hot, but the pose certainly makes up for it. Love the Sand Hills.

Dave

[Kurt Bowman]

Thanks for the comments Dave, I checked it again and the histogram shows they are close, but not hot. I normally go by my histogram because of the variation of monitor brightness these days. Maybe I shouldn't let it get this close though. Again, thanks for catching it.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice sharpness, and pod, wish there was no shadow on the neck. whites are good.

[Chris Korman]

Lovely composition, lighting is really really nice.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Super image Kurt, great take-off pose and wingspread. I also like the two tone BKGD and no shadows on the eye TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome pose and sharpness. I like the crossed feet. Light angle wasn't to your advantage, and I think I detect clone marks on the BG. Just as an FYI, "hot" does not mean the same as "clipped". Hot is usually very bright and detail-less and often unavoidable, even if under the 255 "clipping" threshold - kinda like the wing edges that Dave mentions.

P.S. That was a nice way to spend a birthday...and a Happy belated one!!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the underwing detail and sharpness. Well done Kurt!

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice take off pose with full wing spread. Good eye contact with great detail on the underwings and undercarriage.TFS.

[Kurt Bowman]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I really appreciate the feedback. My only comment back is I understand many wildlife photographers subscribe to the theory everything must be completely front lit, but I am not one of them. While I shoot many of my shots that way, I sometimes find shadows and side light more interesting and sometimes it creates more depth in my opinion. My guess is, many don't agree with that statement and that is what makes us unique. BTW, I actually started to type that out on my original post, but I didn't want to sway anyone from their own beliefs and I wanted honest opinions. Again thanks!