Hamerkop Portrait

This Hamerkop was fairly close to my car, so I couldnt resist getting a portrait shot of him. This pose shows of the shape of the head nicely. The BG is grass, and I had to tone down the greens a lot. I have also blurred the grass, but not too much to make it unrealistic, as the hamerkop wasnt separated that far from the grass behind him. Taken in the nature reserve close to my house at the beginning of the year.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400MM
1/1250
F/7.1
ISO 400

Exp Comp 0
hand held from my car.

Like the profile pose and the nice detail. BG blurring is just right, although it looks like there may be some cloning artifact in the LLC.

Incredible detail Stuart and as Doug mentioned there does seem to be some cloning marks in the LLC.

Stuart:

Sharp, well exposed, great eye, excellent visual sep from the background.

Effective comp.

Cheers

Randy

What an interesting bird, love the feather detail and that amazing bill.

Thanks a stack for the feedback and comments guys and Grace.

Excellent detail and a classic pose. Picture angle looks right on for shooting from a car.

Wow Stu...you made excellent use of opportunity...I have never seen image of this bird before...beautiful portrait and plenty of details. TFS

Brings back many memories for me; is indeed a super portrait with detail at exceptional level

Stunning close up image, Stuart. Absolutely love it. The detail is remarkable. I saw these a bunch when I lived in central Africa but never got to see one so close and am marveling over it. Thank you for sharing this.

Thank you all for the kind words and feedback. Always appreciated.

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.

Excellent close up Stuart. Detail is superb, great head angle, real nice background, and great comp.
Very well done.