Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)

[Charlie Schwencke]

Cropped and sharpened and resized for web in PS CS5

ISO:320, 1/1000 @ F: 7.1 Evaluating metering. Exposure bias: +0.3. AV setting.
White balance: Auto. Pentax: K200D, Sigma 150-500mm.

Thanks for viewing and appreciation. C & C are highly appreciated.
Cheers Charlie.

[gail bisson]

Hi Charlie,
There is a lot to like about this image.
The pose and BG are lovely. I even like the rusty wire perch.
The problem is the tail (or lack of it). I also think you oversharpened the bird as I find the feathers on the back a bit crispy.
I would also do another round of NR on the BG and take a bit off the top for composition.
Do you have any with the whole tail?
Gail

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Charlie,
Yeah.....beautiful bird but wish for the tail. I also agree with Gail's observations above. You had the zoom so were you all the way in at 500?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome bird and colours, and the BG is beautifully creamy smooth. Yes, bummer about the tail. Either zooming out, or flipping the camera vertically (if it wasn't done), or pointing it lower would have been beneficial.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Hi Charlie, if you're anything like me, you have this image and another one without a head but a full tail If you do, maybe you can add a tail from the other one? Otherwise, terrific image and great colors! Well done!

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Great pose, excellent details, and very nice background.
Well done.

[Charlie Schwencke]

Thanks everyone the cut of tail was partly due to the fact these guys build tunnel nests and during the making of these their tails can become very damaged.

And as it happened this guy had a very damaged tail end so I decided to cut it of in camera.

I'm heading back to the spot over the weekend so will try for one with a perfect tail and re post.

Here is a image so you can see the intact tail of a Rainbow Bee-eater. (Very busy background in this one)

[IMG Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) by CharlieDangerfield, on Flickr[/IMG

[Satish Ranadive]

Charlie:
Excellent image with lovely background.Very nice pose,beautiful colors and details.
Points by Gail can be fixed in master file,not a problem except tail.
Well done.

Regards,
Satish.