Crested Serpent Eagle

[Mrudul Godbole]

Took this photograph in Nagarhole last year.

Canon 350D, 100-400mm IS USM, 1/200, ISO 100, f8.

Comments and critiques welcome..

[Kiran Ghadge]

Thats superb image, love the light falling on raptor.
though ths bokeh is slightly harsh the overall picture is good. how about more cropping from top to avoid that sky ?

[Harshad Barve]

I think top space is taking so much of attraction ,

Do you like this ?

Harshad

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The original has a kind of washed out sky but gives a feel of the habitat. I liked the way the image is framed with the tree trunk. In the repost, though it is very nearly as per the rule of thirds, I would prefer to see the tree trunk. This image will also work if the sky at the top is cropped.

In all the crops the feel of the image is different. I would have loved if the sky in the original would have got a few clouds.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Thanks Harshad for the repost, do agree it gets more attention on the bird. Just cropping a bit from the top as per Kiran would also help.

With the 100-400, getting a good closeup for birds is difficult. So I try to get a enviornment photograph. Composing as good as I can, to avoid cropping more than 20-30%.

Thanks all for the comments.

[AB Apana]

I agree with the crop and with the suggestion that just a crop at the top would help. In any event it is an effective image with the right sort of light. Normally we tend to find these birds in thick shadow or backlit.

Apana

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

I quite liked the negative space in the original. Gives the sense of the habitat .My Take is tht if the bird is perfectly metered , the BG should not matter in bird photography . If the sky is washed out, so be it .

Or we should try and bracket the shot . n cse of a raptor , they are not as fidgety or flighty as the small birds , so bracketing should be possible.

Just my 2 paise.:D