Over the years, I’ve seen a few King Vultures during my travels in Latin America, but it’s one of the more challenging subjects to photograph. They’re typically soaring high up in the thermals, or in the rare instances they’ve been perched, they’ve also been fairly high in the canopy. During my Brazil trip last year, we were doing a game drive on a ranch in the northern Pantanal. I spotted a couple of Kings, which had joined some other scavengers in a field where a cow had recently died. We set out on foot and managed to snap a few shots from a medium distance, my best view of this magnificent species to date.
Canon 1DXII
Canon 600mm f/4 IS
ISO 2000
1/2000th
f/6.3
(Hand-held)
Having just spent time photographing King Vultures in Brazil’s Piauí state, I know well how difficult it is to get decent images of them. If you get very close, they are sure to fly, even from near a carcass. But you did well with that long reach. Resting the lens on a vehicle or mounting it on a tripod might have given you a little more sharpness in the feather detail, but it is still a very nice image.
Excellent shot of these two vultures, Max! Great job with the exposure, especially for such a contrasting subject! Lots of information in the black feathers without blowing out the white feathers. The diagonal branch with two birds makes for a very pleasing composition also. Looking at the large version, it appears to me that the slight lack of detail in the white feathers is due more to the high ISO noise rather than motion blur. A great opportunity and you definitely made the most of it!
Hi Max,
nice double catch. Good look at the eyes of both birds. Perch seems to fit the species. Detail looks fine to me from what I can tell at this posted image size.
Fantastic image of these colorful vultures, Max. I like the dynamic poses of the two birds. The minimalistic composition and high-key techs with the great perch greatly enhances this image.
