Landing Gear Down

[Doug Brown]

One of the great things about the Bosque in mid-November is that there's still color to be found in the trees. A small splash of late fall color makes for a much more interesting BG IMO. I like this Crane's muddy beak too; again, it gives the image a little something extra.



Canon 1D Mark IV, 600mm + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Really nice light with enough angle to give good shadow detail, great pose, nice to have the head clear of the wing, like the dropped legs, touch of color. Nice DOF too.

Cheers

Randy

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Doug, agree that the color improves this shot a lot. terrific details and angle. You are the master of hand holding that lens.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, I like the forward wing position here, and with the head clear of the far wing. Excellent exposure, detail and sharpness, and the colours of the BG, compliment the crane nicely. Well captured.

[dankearl]

Excellent Doug, the the mud bill and the wing tips.

[Marina Scarr]

Stunning, Doug. So glad the head cleared the wing. Love the BG. Sharp as a tack.

[Jim Fenton]

Perfect isolation, great subdued light on the background yet wonderful on the bird.

I'd like just a bit more separation of the head from that far wing perhaps.

I had all I could do to pull off flight shots with my 500, let alone a 600 with a TC!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Couldn't ask for better!! Well, perhaps a bit more saturation... Nice and sharp, great eye. Love the swooping curves of the far wing.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Doesn't get much better than this, Doug. Killer bg, light, details and eye contact. I love everything about this image.

[arash_hazeghi]

fantastic pose and sharpness, excellent dynamic pose. not sure what is next for you ;)

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!! Superb shot. Great comp, great wing position, lovely background, and the detail is amazing.
Well done.

[Arno Ellmer]

This is superb,Doug.
I like the detail achieved,the posture of the bird and the complementary bg.
I too prefer to shoot handheld as much as possible ! 600 mm F4 + 1.4x is quite hectic.
I was shooting Carmine Bee Eaters in Botswana last year and after a 45 min. session one is pretty exhausted ,physically and concenrtation wise. Still worth it !

[gail bisson]

Another beauty. I am so glad the head has cleared the wings! Absolutely no nits from me on this one.
Gail

[Ishmeet Sahni]

for me this image is surreal...the light, the details and the mud on the beak... the blotches of colour in the lower part of the BG adds just that extra bit...Fantastic.

[Bill Dix]

Wonderful shot. Terrific wing position, head angle, and head clear of the wings. Techs spot on as usual.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

I think you should also mention the size of your biceps and forearms in the EXIF . Handheld flight image with the 600 !!! Brilliant image , lovely angle and the colours are just too lovely !!