Perching Bee Eater

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

D700
300mm f/2.8G VR II with TC-20E III
600mm
ISO 640
f/7.1 at 1/1600s
Manual mode
Matrix Metering
AF-C, Dynamic 9 points
Auto white balance
Tripod inside a blind

Cropped from 2832x4256 to 1751x2522

Shadow recover, lighten a bit, linear burn on the white around the face, add more contrast, clone out sticking branch, clean up background with clone tools and blurring, NR and sharpen.

I'm not sure about the head angle here, one minute it looks okay then another it looks like the bird is looking away. What do you think?
Wish that I can see more of the tail.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.

[James Salywoda]

Excellent detail and pose that bg is excellent as the bird really looks great against it.

[Brendan Dozier]

Great looking bird and real nice capture & comp! Like the detail, colors, and diagonal perch.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Great pose and superb light and color...the eye really pops...I would like to see a bit more space on top...But thats personal

[Jim Neiger]

Very nice bird, pose, perch, etc. A bit tight on top and left, IMO.

[Steve Zamek]

Very nice shot of a beautiful bird. Exposure, sharpness, background all look good. I have no problem at all with the head angle; eye contact is excellent. I agree with others that a bit more room at the top could help.

[Steve Uffman]

beautiful shot,beautiful bird. thanks also with sharing some of the post processing steps. helps me investigate new areas

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, HA and BG. I would like to see a little more room up top as well. Well done!

[Munish Kaushik]

beautiful pose.

Regards,
Munish Kaushik
www.seenwild.com
www.facebook.com/Kaushik.Munish