White-bellied sunbird

[Dave Barnes]

Another sunbird captured in his Kruger.

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/2500
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Partial Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 400
Flash Type External E-TTL
Flash Exposure Compensation -1
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync

[Jay Gould]

David, the iridescence of your capture is simply amazing. I would be tempted to crop a little off of the bottom just to enlarge the bird a bit more. The eye and head are sharp; there does appear to be two catchlights in the eye. Is that explained by the flash?

Your image has caused me to cyber over to your website - glad I did! You have a lot of wonderful images that I/We can learn from.

Thanks for sharing.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Jay, Yes the two catchlights are as a result of the flash.
I understand your comment on the crop but this is a portrait crop from a pano capture and I am reluctant to more off. For the web it will be OK but I dont want to post anything that I would not be happy enlarging the original (prior to resizing for web) to 60x90 cm.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the perch, eye contact, iridescence and sharpness and would remove one of the catchlights. If you have more room at the top, I would prefer to see the flower unclipped.

[Dave Barnes]

Axel thanks for looking and for comments.
Unfortunately no more room above, these aloes have long flowers.
I will remove one of the catchlights.

[Erich Stevens]

Dave,

What a beautiful species! There appears to be a bit of motion blur in the bird's cheek and throat but it's probably light shimmering off the tiny feathers. To my eye the crop is a bit tight on the left. If anything I'd add some canvas there and bring the bird just to the left of center. Great work!

[Kobus Tollig]

Great shot with great Flash work. I would just add some on left and take off the right, great shot well done

[Daniel Cadieux]

With the flowers so tall and thin have you considered flipping your camera over to take some verticals? I think it would be worth it in order to see the flower not clipped above. I also wish the OOF flower was not there. I imagine these are wild plants with no chance to move them around. I too would like to see some canvas cropped at bottom...but I understand your point in not wanting to crop too much (another reason for taking some verticals if the opportunity permits it!). Awesome BG, and the subject looks great.

[Stu Bowie]

Amazing iridescense Dave, and like the posture thinking where to feed next. I like the softer colours of the aloes. Well captured.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Flower looks sharp in my monitor but the bird seems a tad soft.
BG color is what I am not crazy about actually. I would try to darken the whole thing as it seems a tad overexposed IMO.
Congratulations, great natural moment and lovely species.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks to all for looking and for comments and suggestions they are all appreciated.

[Ryan Lambert]

You have captured the colors of the sunbird very well, the color of the Aloe flowers looks spot-on as well. I would tend to agree with a slightly tighter crop as suggested from the bottom...

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Ryan.