Grey crowned crane

Gallery: AvianPosted July 7, 2009503 views18 comments

The grey crowned crane is one of the most spectacularly coloured birds in Africa. This one came close enough to capture full frame. The tongue and the saliva attached to it was a bonus.
Species: Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) 112 cm, 44"
Location: Amboseli NP, Kenya
Date: May 2009
Camera: Canon 1D Mlll
Lens: Canon 500 f4 with 1.4x
Specs: ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/1600s, beanbag on vehicle
Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/ critiques

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on July 7, 2009 at 8:19 AM

Beautiful portrait, well done!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments

Comment posted by usha peddamatham on July 7, 2009 at 8:53 AM

Great portrait Ajit. They look so exotic even in the dramatic setting as Africa . You have got a great 'attitude' shot.

It is so sharp even with the TC. I never used my TC fearing degradation of my images.

Registered on June 25, 2009, 82 Posts, 389 Comments

Comment posted by Ralph Kerr on July 7, 2009 at 9:13 AM

Great photo with well chosen background.

Registered on January 30, 2007, 369 Posts, 852 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on July 7, 2009 at 10:17 AM

Gorgeous. The choice of portrait works extremely well with this bird because it has such an amazing looking head. Love the crown. Nice job on the colors.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on July 7, 2009 at 11:12 AM

A fantastic head shot. Great detail and calling pose. I might try to bring out some more detail in the blacks.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 7, 2009 at 12:09 PM

Gorgeous portrait, Ajit. I can't think of anything I'd want to change.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Gaurav Manglik on July 7, 2009 at 2:03 PM

excellent portrait ...

Registered on December 2, 2005, 191 Posts, 2126 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on July 7, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Beautiful details in this portrait. The open mouth (saliva included) really adds to this image IMO.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on July 7, 2009 at 6:05 PM

Beautiful job.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on July 7, 2009 at 9:56 PM

A special image Ajit. I think it's close to perfect for it's type. It looks like the detail may be impressive in a higher resolution version. I like your exposure too.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Isaac Bauman on July 7, 2009 at 10:27 PM

Awesome! Can't say i've ever seen this bird before, thanks for posting. Tack sharp too. Thanks for the interesting bio as well.

Registered on June 15, 2009, 22 Posts, 81 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on July 7, 2009 at 11:25 PM

wonderful portrait, Ajit. stunning.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 11, 2009 at 4:41 PM

A spectacular portrait Ajit, congrats.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 12, 2009 at 5:04 AM

A most striking portrait.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 14, 2009 at 12:10 AM

What a great expression and perfect framing on your part! Congrats on the WP.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Rosemarie Arbur on July 14, 2009 at 4:41 AM

Beautiful bird, and a thoroughly exquisite treatment.

Registered on March 19, 2008, 189 Posts, 1644 Comments

Comment posted by Nilanjan Das on July 14, 2009 at 9:43 AM

What a lovely head, just as good as I see on your shoulders Ajit :). Fantastic details, superb image. One of the best portraits have seen in recent times, by the way did you show it to Sudhir :) :)

Registered on June 5, 2008, 94 Posts, 383 Comments

Comment posted by Balakumar Kaushik on July 16, 2009 at 1:21 AM

Top notch portrait, nice DOF, a sharp take.
Congrats on EP doc.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 98 Posts, 1403 Comments