I like the simplicity and the elegance of the image.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
This is a photo from my archives I’ve never posted before, taken in March five years ago on Antelope Island. It’s the time of year when Chukars regularly call from elevated rock perches and this one wasn’t shy about it, allowing me a close approach.
For my tastes there’s several things that come together to make this a quality image with viewer appeal including:
- his one-legged stance while calling
- the rocky perch with a clean and pleasing background behind the bird
- both chukar and perch are sharp
- the partial sidelight lit up the important parts of the bird well but it also produced some pleasing natural shadows that still include detail
- I think the softly focused rabbitbrush at lower right adds an interesting artistic touch to the background
I did make one selective adjustment to the image during processing. I thought the perch was just a little bit bright so I selectively reduced its exposure slightly. A sharp eye might notice a slightly annoying artifact of that selective exposure adjustment that I couldn’t get rid of but I’m not going to worry about it, nor am I going to point it out…
On my last several trips to the island I’ve finally been seeing a few more Chukars. They’ve mostly been in seclusion for months now but breeding season should make them more accessible.
So the next time I post an image of a Chukar maybe I won’t have to go back into my archives.
Ron
That is one handsome bird, so nicely portrayed! We had one in the mountains of New Mexico, but assumed it was released by a breeder or hunters. It survived for several weeks but a fox caught it.
Thank you, Ken. My guess is that your NM bird was an escapee.
Stunning.
Thanks, Janice.
All the elements are there for a keeper, so well worth pulling from the archives. The soft, muted background complements the Chuckar’s feathers and sets off the reds of the bill, eye, streaks on the side, and the leg.
Thank you, Lyle.
Very nice photo Ron. Love the colors against the soft background. Both the bird’s coloring and the perch show up really well against that background. Have never seen a Chukar, but would like to. One of my favorite spring returnees the Common Black Hawk arrived just a couple days back. Beautiful but tough time of the year here as Prescott has daily pollen counts of 11.5 and even higher. If you read any pollen count reports you will see we either are #1 in the nation or are always in the top five.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Thanks, Frank.
I envy you your Common Black Hawks. Normally they’re not found here but back in 2014 one inexplicably turned up in Davis County. I think that bird must have been lost. I got many photos of it but my lens was malfunctioning so all of them were soft. I was one pissed off photographer!
I can’t quite figure out why I like the twig. I think it adds some balance and depth to the image. Its really a good photo Ron (of course you have thousands), but I really like this one.
We don’t always need to know why we like something, Frank. If we like it we like it and that’s all that really matters.
What a stunner! Thanks for featuring him this morning!
Thank you, Diane.
The foot tucked up so tightly is what I looked at. Then the twig on the bottom right really adds depth! I hope to one day see one of these in the wild. They are such striking birds.
Arwen, I see Chukars most often on Antelope Island but I also see them occasionally in other areas of dry, mountain slope habitats. They’re pretty neat birds even if they are introduced.
Beautiful shot of the Chukar, Ron. 🙂 Everything in the photo compliments the bird and adds to it. 🙂 Almost looks like it is, in fact a one legged Chukar! It REALLY had it hidden “somewhere”. 😉 They do blend into their environment! Saw a dozen or so Tundra Swans in a Prairie Pot Hole on the way to town yesterday and some in flight on the way back after a VERY long day! Guessing they were there because the water was more or less open – Big Sag and Freezeout are still mostly ice……
“It REALLY had it hidden “somewhere””
We can see the bulge of part of the feather-covered foot but that’s about all we can see of the right leg or foot. Thank you, Judy.
Perfection! 😍 The marbled effect of the background adds to the dimensional effect of the bird, as does the bush behind the wing. Sometimes perfection is reached without even trying.
Thanks, Kathy. But in this case I did have to try, as evidenced by my selective exposure adjustment on the rock…
Yep, there is a lot to like about this photo Ron. All the lighting is nice and soft and the light angle creates a wonderful but soft shadow on the birds breast and forehead that adds to the “dimension” of the image. The background is lovely with soft earthy tones. For some reason, can’t be explained, I really like the relatively sharp twig in the bottom right, contrasting the soft rabbit brush (?) behind it. Great image and worth pulling out of the achieves. Look forward to seeing more as you find them this breeding season.
I noticed that twig too, Frank, and wondered if folks would like it or not (if they noticed it at all). Thanks for that feedback.