Karoo Chat

[botspur]

This little fellow was captured at the "Moon Landscape" outside Swakopmund in Namibia.

All C&C will be appreciated.

[IzzieK]

Clive -- the reflections of the foreground actually melded with the bird's front. May be a bit less of the saturation might work?

[AB26]

Hi Clive,

Using spot metering in a situation like this one is probably the best option. Rather nail exposure on the bird only instead of trying to get the exposure right for the whole scene.

Shooting in the harsh Namibian dessert sun is not an easy thing to do. I can appreciate that you probably had to take the shot as you could not hang around waiting for the light to get better and you have no guarantee that the bird will ever be in that position again.

[Brownbear]

I absolutely love the perspective and also the composition with the beautiful scenery in the background.

[Wavelength]

Excellent

[bnnrcn]

Very nice composition

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Clive.

In as much as the bird is the main subject in this image, I would crop off the right side starting at the right edge of the mountain in the top center. You can increase the contrast between the bird and the desert by reducing the highlights in post processing. That will darken the desert somewhat and that will draw attention to the lighter colored bird.

[Geoff F]

Yes Ken has said exactly what I was thinking. It is nice to see a little of that background but there is too much out of focus material there, which detracts from the main subject.

[Stagecoach]

Clive,

This is a great example of an image that is going to receive differing views with respect to the subject and cropping.

Personally I like the crop as is because it gives a good view of the type and vastness of habitat this bird has to roam. The detail in and separation from background of the bird I do not believe is sufficient to allow a closer crop making it more prominent in the scene, this being due to the unavoidable lighting condition.

A very nice capture.

Grahame