Olive-backed Sunbird feeding

[eddyswan]

Hi All, my first image in BPN. Took this last year at Japanese Garden, Singapore.
Here is a female bird bringing a grasshopper for the chick. During nesting, both male and female will take turn feeding their chicks.

Olympus EM5, EF400mm f5.6 with adapter, mounted on tripod. f5.6, 1/2000s, iso 1600, MF, prefocus to the nest, and burst the shutter when the bird approaching the nest.
Shooting against the sun, hence some work in PS to lift the shadow of the subject (s/h recovery, dodge). Image cropped to 9mpx and resize for the web, sharpen and some NR on the bg.

All comments appreciated, thanks for viewing.

[Diane Miller]

Hi Eddy, and welcome!! You caught a great moment and this is a very nice first post. I would expect some limitations with your equipment compared to the latest high-tech (and expensive!) Canon and Nikon gear, but some of the technical issues can probably be resolved with some practice. The female is somewhat soft -- either slightly out of the focus plane or some motion blur is showing, or both. Noise looks good. Full sun on a subject is always best and you might try flash if it isn't possible.

We'll love to see more of what you're able to get with that equipment.

[David Salem]

Really close to perfection. Love the pose and the fact that we can see the prey item. If the sun was at your back this would have been stellar. Keep trying.

[eddyswan]

Thanks Diane and David for your feedback.
I was not able to move around as the shooting window is quite small to get pleasant background and the nest was located at the edge of the pond.
This image was taken at 10am, i did try again in the late afternoon when the sun was at my back, but there were very little activity in the nest.

[Diane Miller]

This is all a low percentage game. Keep at it. Luck favors those who show up at the right time.

[Marvin T. Smith]

This is a really exciting image. You have really captured the action. I wonder if you could tone down the harsh sunlight on the greenery in the upper left. I find it a little distracting.

[Bryan Munn]

Amazing shot! I wish it was mine!