Galah III

Gallery: AvianPosted July 20, 2010390 views26 comments

Three amigos photographed near a water trough on Kilcowera Sation, western Queensland. I'm not sure if this aspect ratio works, the 2:3 didn't look quite right so went a bit squarer.

Canon 7D, EF500 f/4 + 1.4tc, tripod, kwik-camo, ISO100, f/10, 1/320, cropped for composition, small vertical twig and two Galah fragments digitally removed at right. A bit of sky added at top.

Comments

26 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on July 20, 2010 at 5:51 PM

You are killing me with these Aussie birds. Fantastic image and the crop works. Has the drought had much effect on these birds?

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 20, 2010 at 6:00 PM

Thank you for your comments Luke. There has been much drought in Australia over the last decade which has affected population of birds, resident birds numbers had halved in some areas. Many inland species like Galahs are adapted to boom-and-bust cycles, and tend to move to areas and breed where there has been rain. The drought has broken in many areas this year with exceptional rainfall. One town we visited in western Queensland had sat in flood water for three weeks.

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

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on July 20, 2010 at 8:27 PM

This is just terrific. I think you did very well with choice of framing...nicely done.

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

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on July 20, 2010 at 9:13 PM

Perfect symmetric placement -how did you choreograph that?

Outstanding.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 20, 2010 at 9:42 PM

'how did you choreograph that?' All Galahs are trained from birth to sit this far apart, see Graeme Chapman's remarkable image.

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

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on July 21, 2010 at 1:44 AM

Very neat, Simon. Some birds tend to distribute themselves evenly; makes for a very cool capture. Eye contact from all three is icing on the cake. Nicely captured.

Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on July 21, 2010 at 6:45 AM

Everything works for me here!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on July 21, 2010 at 8:06 AM

Perfect

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on July 21, 2010 at 8:17 AM

A remarkable image!
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 21, 2010 at 10:10 AM

The aspect ration works for me, Simon. Wonderful to get the poses lined up. Whenever I get a group like this, someone has to be a nonconformist.

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

Comment posted by Ian Mason on July 21, 2010 at 11:16 AM

Amazing symmetry - very well done!

Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 21, 2010 at 1:17 PM

Wonderful composition, just enough difference in the three to really add to the image, very amusing, the larger version looks great, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on July 21, 2010 at 1:40 PM

The crop definitely works. A delightful graphic design.

Way to go, Simon,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Darren McKenna on July 21, 2010 at 8:56 PM

Wow, how sweet is that. Very nice light and stopping down to f10 really nailed this one. A beautiful image Simon.

darrenmckenna.com

Registered on October 28, 2008, 31 Posts, 214 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on July 21, 2010 at 9:24 PM

Simon:
A three-fer - and I thought the shots with only one Galah were special. And catch lights in all three birds is ostentatious.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on July 21, 2010 at 10:20 PM

Cool image, Simon.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 22, 2010 at 12:50 AM

Very effective, I certainly enjoy the three together like this, in such similar poses. No suggestions for improvement.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on July 23, 2010 at 9:54 AM

Cool. How long did it take you to line them up!!??
May

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on July 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM

Simon,

The first time I was in Australia was August of 1998, my first destination was Bathurst in NSW. Little did I know I was driving into a flood the bridge to town was well under water and then the dam above Bathurst broke and they expected the water level to rise another 10 feet. I left for the NSW coast in a hurry!

I love the compostion and think you made the right choice. Lovely light, details and sharpness. I especially like how the poses of the Galahs are alike but that the wing tips are all slightly different.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 24, 2010 at 3:21 PM

A gorgeous and unique image Simon, nice job with the ps work too.

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

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on July 27, 2010 at 3:25 PM

A well-deserved EP, Simon. Congratulations!

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on July 28, 2010 at 9:30 AM

Great symmetry and dof Simon. Congratulations

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on July 28, 2010 at 9:31 AM

Congratulations on a wonderful EP! For some reason the shot makes me crack up a bit.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 29, 2010 at 1:44 AM

Congrats Simon!