African Wattled Lapwing

[Pieter de Waal]

Taken in the cut canefields here in Swaziland. On this particular day we had three different species of Lapwing in the field.

50D/EF500f4+1.4 1/400@f8 iso400 EC -0.33 - FF cropped from Horisontal - added canvas on top and removed some greenery behind the legs.

[Randy Stout]

Pieter:

I like the birds pose, head angle.
The light angle well off to your right made the lighting a bit challenging. Generally I would prefer a bit more over your shoulder light angle.

I can't tell if the crown is blown out, or just doesn't have much detail normally?

I might try to smooth the lower BG a bit, the upper seems OK.

Cheers

Randy

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Pieter, Lovely pose and HA and BKGD. Little side/back lit but that is okay imo. Maybe a lighten the face a little with dodge & burn. I would also loose the grassy bits in the lower right corner. Other than that a very nice image of a beautiful bird.

[Brendan Dozier]

Great that you can capture these birds where you are, Pieter! Good exp. with that light, like the one leg-up pose, HA, and the crop works well. Seems the head is just a bit less sharp than the body, but nicely done!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose and raised foot. I agree with Clemens about loosing the grass in the LRC. Well done Pieter!

[Peter Farrell]

A really nice pose with the raised foot and head tilt. Nice detail and, although not ideal, the lighting worked okay. I am curious about the top of the head as Randy stated.
Peter

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Pieter, lovely pose with the semi raised leg, and great HA too. I feel you have captured some good feather detail here. I like the uncluttered BG. Well captured.

[Pieter de Waal]

Thanks guys for looking and commenting, your feed back helps a lot.

Randy, Peter the side light clipped some of the white on the crown, I have posted a head on below for reference.

Clemens thanks for the suggestion will try out my dodging skills on this one.

Yes Brendan we are fortunate but then again I look at some of the birds in your neck of the woods, particularly the waterbirds and also the mass migrations which make me quite envious at times.

[James Salywoda]

Beautiful pose and composition Pieter.

[Craig Brelsford]

This shot looks difficult. The angle of the light, raised leg, and lookback pose suggest that this lapwing is shy and that he was walking away from you and that you had no choice but to shoot with sidelight. You managed to get low, your BG is simple, and your exposure is correct. Nice job!

[Pieter de Waal]

Thank you for looking and commenting Craig I appreciate your observations. Have been away so apologies for the late reply.