Long-Tailed Widowbird

[Arno Ellmer]

Image created last week at a nature reserve in our area .
The bg is natural grassland
Canon Mk IV
500mm +1.4x
f/6.3
1/2500 Av
ISO 800
EC +1/3
Handheld.
Would be interested to get comments about the comp

[Bill Dix]

Amazing birds. You caught him with a great wing position and flight angle. Tough one to crop, for sure. It feels to me like it needs some more room at the tail, and maybe too much empty space on the right. I know you want some space for him to fly into, but it might be worth trying a vertical comp.

[Andrew Merwin]

That's quite the bird. It looks like a red wing blackbird with his tail on steroids.

I like the BG, the opened wings & that the feet are visible.

Re. the crop—I think I would prefer a landscape crop instead of the square crop. I don't think a vertical crop would work here either.

TFS

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. You exposed the blacks on this wonderfully. Great flight pose and great background.
Well done.

[arash_hazeghi]

fantastic, lovely pose, BG and sharp details. a winner

I suggest a vert with more room behind the bird

does not get better than this

[Loukie Viljoen]

Well done Arno groete Loukie

[Brendan Dozier]

Amazing looking bird, and what a fantastic pose you captured, Arno! Agree with trying vert crop. Well done!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Arno, well exposed on this fellow, and you have captured the perfect flying posture against the OOF grasslands. Comp wise, I would just add a touch to the bottom, and a little more on the left.

[ramesh anantharaman]

This is as good as it gets...... A different comp as suggested by Stuart would work wonders I suppose......

[RakeshDhareshwar]

I am in love with this image !! What a lovely pose ! Great exposure and that creamy BG . No suggestions as far as the crop is concerned , because I cant take my eyes off the bird.

[gail bisson]

Stunning image. A difficult one to crop but I think I would add a bit more to the left and bottom if you have it! The light and the exposure on the blacks is excellent. A wall hanger for sure!1
gail

[Dumay de Boulle]

Congrats on a fine image! I am still dreaming of one of these!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arno, stunning stunning shot. best part is the angle of the subject w.r.t the camera.....giving nice full view of the tail. Blacks look great, BG is sweet and open bill is a cherry on top. A winner all the way. This shud be a great cover for a birding magazine.

[Doug Brown]

One of the better shots I've seen of this species Arno! Excellent wing position, flowing tail feathers, and black detail. I think it would work better as a vertical.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nicely done Arno, great wing position and expo... I love the bird too...

[Sandesh R.Dhareshwar]

I love the bird and the exposure pose and bg is superb

[Arno Ellmer]

Thank you all for the comments,especially the ones with suggestions for the comp.It seems that a vert comp would work best!