Superb Starling

[Vinay Lakshman]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4331484727_db95abe9c9_o.jpg

Taken in Masai Mara

Canon EOS 1D MarkII
Canpn EF 300mm F/2.8
1/2500 sec
F/5
ISO 100
-1 exp
Evaluative metering
Av Mode

[Randy Stout]

Vinay:

Colorful environmental shot, with good pose, exposure and sharpness. In a perfect world, I wish there wasn't quite so much out of focus grass in front of the bird, but the color helps it blend into the breast color pretty well.

I might consider a modest crop down from the top, I don't think all the space there adds a lot to the image.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Havent seen this species before, and he sure is colourful. Good low angle, and agree with Randy to take a bit off the top.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Vinay, Thanks for sharing as I enjoyed this image. I like the light and colors. I agree with Randy's comments. In addition, the blacks looked like they might be blocked on my monitor so I took your image into photoshop and checked. The blacks were not blocked as I read values of 8-13 on the head. I ran Shadows/Highlights (S/H) and was able to bring some detail out. I thought it helped. Just a suggestion. If you do give it a try, I would also suggest applying the S/H just to the bird as I like the tone of the grass and background.

[Vinay Lakshman]

Hey Phil !! Thank you so much for pointing that out . Will surely try it out .

[RAM MALLYA]

Amazing colors of the bird displayed liked the ground level approach

[Angad Achappa]

Nice ground level shot Vinay, Like the lighting & colors here. Try selectively blurring the few twigs at the lower right hand corner, does take the attention of the bird a little. Overall a brilliant image.