Marico Sunbird.

[Stu Bowie]

I visited a new location where I had been told there were different sunbirds feeding off the aloes. I didnt realise how busy they are, not staying long enough for a decent shot, or feeding at the back of an aloe, thus not getting a clear shot. This is my first image of a sunbird, and glad to have managed a clear shot. Something different to add to my files. Taken early morning. This is the same location where I posted my previous image of the bee eater.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300 F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/4000
F/6.3
ISO 800

Hand held

[Satish Ranadive]

What a lovely sun bird you have !! Wonderful iridescent colors you have captured, spectacular image, Stuart Sir.
Beautiful two tone BG, nice perch and composition.
Love the colors, pose and great details.

Regards,
Satish.

[keith mitchell]

Hi Stuart,tried to catch up with some of your Sunbirds in the Botanical gardens in Cape town, without a lot of success .This is a super image with great colour and sheen and a nice BG to go with it, very nice indeed.


Keith.

[Stu Bowie]

tried to catch up with some of your Sunbirds in the Botanical gardens in Cape town, without a lot of success .

Thanks Keith. You must have gone to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. Ive been once a while back, more for my dear wife to look at all the flowers, although I did have my camera and remember trying my luck with butterflies and dragonflies.

Thanks Satish.

[keith mitchell]

Stuart my wife has just confirmed that Kirstenbosch was indeed the place, do remember that I did enjoy it, hope to get back there next year all been well.

Keith.

[John Robinson]

Hi Stuart
I,ll never see one in the wild but this will do ! I could go to our nearest animal park but they only have budgies !
Grand shot. As usual I would have liked a tiny bit of something in the back - however faint. Just me.
Sheens are not always easy.
Cheers
John

[Bill Dix]

Amazing multi-colored iridescence, and a nice pose. Congrats on a first. The light there must be pretty strong even in the early morning, but you've managed to get detail in the blacks nonetheless.

[gail bisson]

This is a difficult pose + perch to compose properly and I think you have done it very nicely.
Great exposure and IQ. The iridescence is masterfully shown.
I would love to see a shot with the bird parallel to the perch and presented as a vertical. I bet you have one to show us!!!
Gail

[Binu John]

Excellent exposure, IQ and pose! I really like that perch and gradient background. Well done, Stuart!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Beautifully composed. Killer light and sharpness. Iridescence captured so nicely and nice details in the dark feathers. Love the two toned graduated bg and the perch that has the right amount of character to complement this image.
Very nice Stu - the thumbnail didn't do this image justice.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Stuart

Love the exposure and the clean BG! I always tend to blow the hot colours when capturing them.

Well done!

[christopher galeski]

its all been said Stuart,beautiful image,love the 2tone BG,well done.

[David Salem]

Great looking bird Stuart and love the metallic sheen on the feathers. Nice pose he gave you and the perch and BG look great. Good job on the exposure also as the detail in the feathers looks perfect.
Nice file for a new species!!

[Gabriela Plesea]

This is absolutely stunning, Stuart! You have masterly exposed all the brilliant colours of this sunbird, love the crop, great IQ and presentation, congratulations!!!

Kind regards,

[Kaido Rummel]

Another great image! I love the detail in different colors (incl black), very nicely done. The perch, the pose and the background are also to my liking.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.