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Ilija Dukovski
04-27-2009, 09:36 PM
Taken at Monteverde Costa Rica, last week.
This is the female, posing patiently near a feeder.
I was so close that I could not get it all in focus.

Comments and critique appreciated.

Nikon D80
Nikkor 300mm AF-S
f/4.0 1/40
ISO 400
AP Matrix -0.33
Tripod
Charlie VanTassel
04-27-2009, 10:26 PM
Hi Ilija, A beautiful bird. Too bad about the focus. Just one reason to go back for another try!
Ákos Lumnitzer
04-27-2009, 10:56 PM
Wish you had tried to get it a little more side-on. It would have rocked Ilija. Cannot wait to see more of these. :)
Lance Peters
04-28-2009, 07:06 AM
You needed some extension tubes to allow you to focus closer. Would have been very nice with all of the bird in focus, You have a good HA and eye contact and a nice clean background.
looking forward to more :)
Jory Griesman
04-28-2009, 03:14 PM
Very nice image, re: exposure, comp, colour. Agree with Lance, above, re: extension tubes, and other comments, re: focus. I wonder if going to f/5.6 or f/8, and increasing the ISO, might have also helped. Did you use flash?
Ilija Dukovski
04-28-2009, 04:02 PM
Thank you for the ideas,

Akos, the terrain did not allow me to move around a lot,
I was pretty much in a fixed position. Also, these little guys
stay on the perch for a moment or two, not much time to
adjust your view point.

Lance, thanks for the advice, I will look up the extension tubes.

Jory, note that this is 1/40. I simply could not afford
to go slower than that, I had to go with f4.
I did, however, burn the whites a bit even at -0.33 but at the moment
I didn't have too much time (or experience:o) to react and change to f5.6
AND adjust from -0.33.

ISO higher than 400 on my D80 simply adds too much noise.
I know you can deal with noise in PP but somehow I systematically get bad
results with high ISO so lately I shoot only ISO400.
Jory Griesman
04-28-2009, 05:30 PM
I noticed the 1/40 sec, and knew you couldn't go slower, but didn't notice that you were using a D80. My D700 allows much higher ISOs.
Ilija Dukovski
04-28-2009, 07:16 PM
Oh yes, the full frame sensor even at similar resolution makes
a world of difference when it comes to noise.