Striated Thornbill taking the plunge

[Ian Wilson]

This is one of our smallest birds. They just love the water and always seem so happy. Consequently, they are a great pleasure to photograph - it is like watching little children playing in the pool. For this shot I have used the high-speed flash set-up described in previous posts.

Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 1.4x III extender, three 600EX-RT flashes, RS-80N3 remote shutter release, Gitzo 3532LS tripod, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal, felt drape for background.

Manual pre-focus, manual camera settings, f/14, 1/200 sec, ISO 200, 1/8 flash power.

Processed in DPP4: adjust brightness (-0.33), gamma (4.68, -0.30, -1.0), shadow (2.3), output (10-245 DN), luminance NR (0), chrominance NR (1), sharpness (3), RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: select birds, background surface blur to reduce file size, remove flash highlights from eyes, downsize, sharpen birds, TIFF-JPEG.

Thanks for looking, critical feedback welcome.

Ian

[Marina Scarr]

They seem happy, and so am I viewing your bathing images!!! How awesome that you were able to capture both in the same frame. The pose on the plunging bird is over the top, and I am loving the water droplets and the fact that both are sharp with your choice of aperture. If I had one wish it is that one or both were angled a little bit toward the viewer, but that would be in a perfect world which rarely exists. Well done on this set up.

[Bill Dix]

Very nicely planned, and beautifully captured. Great action, water drops. Good exposure and sharpness on both birds.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Great image Ian, and apart from the cuteness of the birds I really like the brilliance of the water droplets, they add a sense of magic here.

You planned this shot so well and I applaud your results - I have been reluctant to use flash but this encourages me to experiment a little, thank you for all the info provided, by the way

Enjoyed viewing, I particularly like the detail on the feathers of the little "diver" on the left...

Kind regards,

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful all around image, Ian.

[John Robinson]

Great pool action stuff.
Nice one Ian. I would prefer a back drop but not always possible in this sort of situation.
John

[Ian Wilson]

Great pool action stuff.
Nice one Ian. I would prefer a back drop but not always possible in this sort of situation.
John

Thanks John. The background issue at my set-up is one that remains unresolved. The natural background is a shrubbery in dappled shade. I find the birds get 'lost' in this complex background. I have therefore tried a number of artificial back drops including an old potato sack, sail canvas, felt blanket, a black sheet, and jungle pattern camouflage. All of these isolate the bird but none of them gives a natural 'feel'. An additional complication is that one has limited scope to 'process' the background, for example by changing the brightness or blur, if there are a lot of desirable water droplets in the air. I have some new ideas that I will try this summer. Regards, Ian.

[Arthur Morris]

Rockin'! I wish only for a bit more room below. Do you have anything there?

[Ian Wilson]

Rockin'! I wish only for a bit more room below. Do you have anything there?

Thanks for your feedback Arthur. I'm afraid the bottom edge is the edge of the original frame. I set up to maximize the space above the pool hoping to catch the birds while they were airborne and to record as much spray as possible. Cheers, Ian.

[William Dickson]

Amazing once more

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for your feedback Arthur. I'm afraid the bottom edge is the edge of the original frame. I set up to maximize the space above the pool hoping to catch the birds while they were airborne and to record as much spray as possible. Cheers, Ian.

YAW. BTW, the BKGR here looks pretty darned good.

Here is a tip: Once you are good to go with birds coming take and image or two frame up and an image or two framed down to provide source material as needed.....

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for your feedback Arthur. I'm afraid the bottom edge is the edge of the original frame. I set up to maximize the space above the pool hoping to catch the birds while they were airborne and to record as much spray as possible. Cheers, Ian.

YAW. BTW, the BKGR here looks pretty darned good.

Here is a tip: Once you are good to go with birds coming take and image or two frame up and an image or two framed down to provide source material as needed.....

[Binu John]

Wonderful shot, Ian! Love the setup, feather details, BG, action and water droplets! Well done!

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for your feedback on this image. Thanks for the 'tip' Arthur, I will certainly use this in future, it makes a lot of sense. Regards, Ian.