Black-rumped Flameback

[Mital Patel]

Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium bengbalense)

Camera : Nikon D300
Lens : Nikkor 80-400D ED VR f4.5/5.6
Exposure : 1/400sec @ 400mm
Aperture : f/9
ISO Rating : 1600
Captured On : June 03 2009, 09:36 am
Location : Thol Bird Sanctuary, Mehsana, Gujarat, INDIA

Comments and critics are welcome.

[Juan Aragonés]

The soft light works fine and the BG is very nice but, regarding the composition, I think that you can improve it with less room at the left and at the top of the frame. The 80-400VR works very poorly wide open at 400mm so I think that you did very, very well going up to f9 to get the sweetes point of the lens.

[Mital Patel]

Thanks juan infact i was thinking after posting it to reduce space on left as i cropped a abit free zone on left as well bit on top.

btw i've read lots of stories on the 80-400 and never get down f/8 now since last few months whatever situation's there are to get better detail rather trashing image.

let me know about the repost

[Kobus Tollig]

You did really well. I would also crop a bit. Maybe also lighten the image a bit. Well done here

[Stu Bowie]

Mital, typical woodpecker pose. This is sharp, and I like the colours on him. Lovely light, and he stands out nicely against the BG. Your repost regarding the comp works better, but he is now a bit central. I would take a little off the bottom, and add a bit to the top, as he is facing upwards.

[Mital Patel]

thanks stuart and kobus

how bout this change ?

[Rob Drummond]

Lovely shot Mital - like the slightly tighter crop. One of the better woodpecker shots I've seen - particularly like the detail.

cheers
Rob

[Mark Dumbleton]

2nd repost works 100% in my books! Super pose, detail and colour. Dark areas of the Bird do seem a bit noisy, but not a major flaw.

[Mital Patel]

Thanks Mark for the inputs.

Yes dark tones having too much noise but thats what i can expect with 1600 iso not to complain :)
Hand held with busy bird like this shooting is always been a problem.

Before we get nice pose and frame for this bird with 400mm to get nice bigger view with good approach they get gone off from the sight in few seconds at the place i regular go.

I am still looking and study the couple to know where is their nest but as the area is so big i couldnt able to follow them for maximum of 15 minutes.

Lets hope for the best in next few visits to get some more nice views ...

[Randy Stout]

Mital:

Pretty bird, repost an improvement. The head is turned a bit away from ideal.
I have shot the 80-400 a lot in the past, and I agree with Juan, that 400mm wide open is not where you want to be. I might not go quite as small as f/9, because the noise penalty. For me the sweet spot was f/8 in these circumstances. (I also use a D300, so know your combination pretty well)

You might be able to home in on the nest by watching their flying patterns. At least with pileated woodpeckers, they tend to return to the nest when feeding the young every 30-45 minutes, so there is a certain flow to their movement, with a repeating pattern. A lot depends on how tight your woods are. If you can't see their flight patterns, it would be tough. The other possible aid is if the young are calling out for food.

The pair in my back yard, the young would stick their heads out looking for food, and if the parents were a little late, they would start calling for them.

Thanks for sharing.

Randy

[Mital Patel]

thanks a lot randy for the nice guidance.
i am just following them since last month but i dont think there is any chicks yet in the park as from the old fellows i heared they would lay eggs soon so chick possibility are not there.

secondly i've track them down for their territory and i think based on your pointingis i might soon get their nest as the pattern is what i have tracked for their coming and going.

will sure soon go there and try to find the nest soon. thanks a lot for the good guide again ..

[ChasMcRae]

Nice pic. I was wondering since the spots on the head appear true white then the side white is cream colored on my monitor. Is that the true color of the bird ?
Chas.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Beautiful bird, good details and light. I like the second repost but would give it a bit more room at the bottom. The advantage of the smaller crop is that you got rid of the repetitive patterns on the left.

[Mital Patel]

dear charles.

these are the true colors i've through the shot nothing been played selectively on color part.

[Arthur Morris]

2nd repost is better. Could go lighter still. Has anyone mentioned the HA? (The bird is facing slightly away from you).

Why handheld?

[Aidan Briggs]

Adding to the above comments. There appears to be a repeating pattern in the background in the original post (the vertical row of white dots) Did you clone something out of the BG?

[Stu Bowie]

Well done Mital, your repost works well.

[Herb Houghton]

The repost is much better, it concentrates more on the bird, less on the BG. I like the colors in this species, thanks for posting.

[Mital Patel]

@ Aidan i have not dont anything on the bg except running two times NR and one time blur.


@ Arthur sir,
i am newbie and i dont have tripod with me for wildlife that can go handy except the big one manfrotto and i drive 40km from my house to sanctuary every weekends on my bike which is tuff to carry that manfrotto tripod with my ballhead.

but i am seriously planning to get light weight tripod for field in next week or so which will sure help me getting stable images for sure.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info Mital. If folks can handhold the 500s then you should be able to go OK with good technique with the 80-400. Best to use C focus when handholding; if you use S and your body moves, the images cannot be sharp....

[Mital Patel]

true.
i always tend to use
C mode focus with my d300 and VR on. f8 is what i use minimum as its the only aperture point i can get good result with this lens. so whenever i need good speed i play with ISO.