Brown Snake-Eagle

[Pieter Lotter]

Canon 40D
Canon Lens 100 - 400mm
ISO 400
1/2500
f5.6 +0.67

Taken in the Kruger Park recently. Caught it a bit late as it flew past. Would have liked it more head on but it is my first pic of this raptor in flight.
All comments appreciated.

Pieter

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to the raptor in flight club Pieter! One of my favorite avian subjects! Exposure is excellent and sharpness is pretty good. I would have traded a bit of shutter speed for a slightly smaller aperture; the 100-400 produces better sharpness stopped down. As you pointed out the bird is angled away from the viewer, but you'll get them coming towards you with practice. Keep up the good work!

[Dumay de Boulle]

Good exp and lovely wing position. The flight angle is not ideal also the noise is quite noticeable on the BG and the bird. I would also recommend more space on top. Nice effort Pieter

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congrats on your first flight image of this raptor! I agree the critiques (including your own). Is this image a large crop? Noise seems quite noticeable for that ISO with this body / lens.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Very nice exposure, wing position and focus. Your first raptor picture is much better than mine. Agree with the bird flew pass you and noise on the image.

[gail bisson]

Agree with all of the above. An excellent first raptor BIF shot,. I would think an EV of +1 1/3 would have been better here to reduce the noise.
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Hey, I like the bird and the pose. The bird is striking and the look back over the near wing gives the image and the bird a menacing look. Adding a bit more light would not have hurt. Welcome and thanks a stack for you membership support!

[Pieter Lotter]

Doug; Dumay; Daniel; Thanaboon;Gail and Arthur
Thank you for all your comments, advice and encouragement. I have realised that I need to practise BIF shots a lot more as one has to consider a couple more things and there's no time to ponder.
Daniel - Yes, it was a large crop.