Greater blue-eared starling

[Chris van Rooyen]

The garden of the guest house where we stay for our Kruger safari's is a paradise for small birds. I photographed this Greater blue-eared starling there with fill flash. Iridescent feathers are difficult to render accurately, but I think the SB900 flash did a great job here.

Camera Model: NIKON D3
Date/Time: 2009:05:24 11:19:35
Shutter speed: 1/250 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Exposure compensation: -1/3
Flash: On
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 800
Lens: 600mm
Focal length: 600mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Chris

The fill flash did the job and does look natural Smoking bird and love the bg Big Congrats !!! ... btw might take some form the bottom but is just personal taste !!!

[Ramon M. Casares]

Amazing! The plumage loks like a HDR! Great detail, light, pose, colors, and BG, I would suggest to crop a bit from behind the bird and the bottom. Big congratulations!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh man, you managed to make the metalllic-looking plumage shine quite nicely. Amazing variety of colours from the cold spectrum of the rainbow on the bird contrasting nicely with the warm tones of the BG. I agree in cropping below, and perhaps adding some above.

[Nate Chappell]

The colors are gorgeous here, nice job with the flash Chris.

[Neil Losin]

Agree with Al and Ramon re: the crop, but this is a sweet shot of a gorgeous bird :)

[Dan Brown]

Another great shot Chris! Amazing bird! Thanks for sharing!

[Tony Whitehead]

Beautifully done, Chris - did you use a BB or are you finding the long end of the SB900 zoom is reducing the need for this?

[Dave Leroy]

Very nice photo Chris and I am glad you have posted it. Good to learn a way to handle these iridescent feathers. Very pretty contrast with bright colours of bird and soft bg. Dave

[Dave Barnes]

I have tried these guys and have not got it right yet. You have done very well here Chris to show the feather colour and detail. The new equipment seems to be working for you.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions guys! Tony no I did not use a BB.

[Kobus Tollig]

Great one chris well done omn this

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice colors, I see you are still using your D3, great job on this bird. Did you get a 600mm??

[Morkel Erasmus]

jip that is sublime exposure on a difficult bird to expose truthfully. VWD Chris, right up there with your usual standard