This is about 40% of the original image. We were on a small boat and he was close to us, but they are very small :)
Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 400mm
f5.6 @ 1/3200 SS @ ISO-1000
Shutter priority (was ready for the takeoff!)
I wish the shadow of another reed didn't fall across his body :o
05-25-2010, 02:10 AM
Ákos Lumnitzer
I could tell straight away that it's a bit of a crop, yet it seems to hold pretty OK AFAIAC. Well done bro. Love the pose and those colors just blow me away every time I see these little guys. :)
05-25-2010, 02:22 AM
Ken Watkins
Morkel,
A good trip on the pond?
I would love to get a good image of a Malachite but as you say they are really small and generally do not like being approached.
Light was not helpful for you, my old 100-400 needed more stopping down, but that is the problem if you are prepared for movement, happens to me all the time;)
05-25-2010, 02:30 AM
arash_hazeghi
Very nice Morkel, you got a nice BG, perch and the fish. Did you apply a lot of NR on this? Feather details appear a bit lacking. Also if the boat is not rocking too much I think you can get away with 1/1000 ss (IS ON) so you could stop down a bit to bring the fish and beak within dof.
nice shot, congrats.
05-25-2010, 02:30 AM
Morkel Erasmus
1 Attachment(s)
thanks Akos, Arash & Ken...
yes Ken my lens' sweet spot is definitely between f7.1 and f8.0, but in the lighting conditions we had I thought it prudent to be wide open...it's sharp enough on my copy to work with.
Arash - I only applied NR to the BG, none to the bird, but here is a repost with another round of sharpening added to the bird...
05-25-2010, 04:53 AM
Ken Watkins
Morkel,
That is a lot better:)
05-25-2010, 05:13 AM
arash_hazeghi
repost is an improvement!
05-25-2010, 06:01 AM
Joe Senzatimore
Nice re-post of a beautiful bird. Love the colors captured as well as the crop and composition.
05-25-2010, 11:21 AM
Rodney Flowers
The repost looks better. I like the fish in the bill and the great pose. The background is great as well. The shadow across the body isn't too bad and you could probably lighten it up easily using the dodge and burn tool in photoshop or a similar tool in another program.
05-25-2010, 03:27 PM
Morkel Erasmus
thanks for the feedback everyone...
05-25-2010, 09:40 PM
Harshad Barve
excellent image and repost looks great
TFS
05-26-2010, 04:31 AM
Kiran Poonacha
Well done bhai..
05-26-2010, 01:15 PM
Ignacio Yufera
Sweet. The 2nd sharpening does improve. If there aren't many distractions, I'd like to see a less cropped version with more room around him.
05-26-2010, 03:15 PM
Morkel Erasmus
thanks Ignacio, Harshad & Kiran! I will maybe do a rework someday soon, busy at the moment editing images for submission to my agency :)