Great Kiskadee

[Alan Murphy]

Great Kiskadee

Rio-Grande Valley, TX

D3, 600, ISO 1000, f5.6 @ 1/8000, -1.0 EV

I had about 20 Kiskadees coming into a feeder for Bananas and Grapes.
When I placed some perches over the feeder they would hover for a couple of seconds before landing.
The D3 is a great camera to take advantage of this. No flash, no remote trigger.

[Dave Barnes]

Wow this bird has great colour. The fast SS sure has done the job here in capturing the wings and the noise at iso 1000 is great. A super shot.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Exceptionally fine image Alan. I love the frozen wings and the light is to die for. All in all, congrats. This species reminds me of our Crested Shrike-tit somewhat.
Thanks for sharing.

[Mark Dumbleton]

Stunningly clean image! Lovely wing position and light here. Colours are so striking!
Great BG too. Would like a bit more room bottom and left. Well done Alan!

[colincarter]

excellent shot, a bit of space added to the bottom would add to the composition in my opinion. Fantastic looking bird well caught

[Markus Jais]

Beyond spectacular. An absolutely stunning shot. Awesome light and color. Great quality for ISO 1000 (the D3 really seems to rock here). Fantastic wing pose and angle of view.

Markus

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Alan, As I like tight crops I am fine with it as presented. Super wing position and exposure.....you nailed this one.

[Grace Scalzo]

The slight wing blur keeps this from feeling static, and the background is the perfect compliment. Beautiful.

[Lorant Voros]

Simply fantastic. Amazing pose, sharp as it can be. Colors are great, BG is beautiful. Big congratulations.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great one as usual, you've got hovering and excellent HA.
BG actually adds lots here, goes very well with the warm colors of the bird.
Is it D3 specifically or any FX would do with high ISO here?
Thanks,

[Harshad Barve]

what a capture this is , I liked all the way as posted
outsatnding image , and Yes D3 is great body
TFS
Harshad

[Alan Murphy]

Is it D3 specifically or any FX would do with high ISO here?
Thanks,

Ilija, I think I understand your question. The D3 is one of the cleanest High ISO cameras on the market, but many of the full frame cameras around 12 MP are just as good. Nikons D3X is also full frame, but 24 MP and not as clean. Thanks.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Nikons D3X is also full frame, but 24 MP and not as clean. Thanks.

This is interesting, can you please say bit more. Does it mean the size of the sensor in 24 MP is smaller so
in effect you loose high ISO capabilities (ie lower signal to noise ratio) or am I missing the point?
What do you mean by not as clean? Thanks...

[Nagesh Mula]

This is beautifully captured , very sharp and focussed right on eye.
I'm not sure leaving more space would further increase the impact or not but I would try that too.
Overall its a great picture. Congrats!!

[Ryan Lambert]

Very well handled and captured image. Good detail, pose and colour. I would possibly take a tad off the left...

[Kiran Poonacha]

Great image, cool pose, loved the details,, congrats..

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Amazing image, the wing position, the sharpness, the back ground and the great color of the bird. For me, a little more room at the bottom will be great.

[David Fletcher]

Cracking image Alan. Way to go! Great anticipation. Love the pose, slight wing blur, colors and bg. Neat and clean too.

[Alan Murphy]

This is interesting, can you please say bit more. Does it mean the size of the sensor in 24 MP is smaller so
in effect you loose high ISO capabilities (ie lower signal to noise ratio) or am I missing the point?
What do you mean by not as clean? Thanks...

No your not missing the point, that is exactaly why the 24 MP camera is not as clean (noise free) as the 12 MP camera at the same ISO. My point was that just having a full frame camera does not necessarily mean that is has little noise at high ISO.

[Arthur Morris]

To Alan on the image: Surely you jest! Is it full frame?

To Ilija: for the most part, the more and smaller the pixels, the more noise is a problem. With Canon, the 1D MIII is great with noise control. The EO-1Ds MIII and the EOS-50D both have more problem with noise thatn the 1D III. One of the best ways to minimize noise is to be sure to expose all the way to the right.

[Ilija Dukovski]

One of the best ways to minimize noise is to be sure to expose all the way to the right.

Yes Artie, no question about that, one interesting consequence of all this is that is seems that there is a point of optimal performance
when it comes to resolution vs. noise at present format. If noise is limiting factor for image quality that means the present
DSLR format has already reached the optimum resolution at 12, so we shouldn't expect any much higher resolution than 24 in the future, with the present sensor technology and format/size. That makes me question(as many I think do) the price on the D3x compared to D3 or D700. Also makes me think about that D700:), regardless of the 24 MP D700x rumours.

[Erich Stevens]

Stunning example of full-frame digital photographic technology in the right hands (yours, Alan). Absolutely terrific image.

[Alan Murphy]

To Alan on the image: Surely you jest! Is it full frame?

To Ilija: for the most part, the more and smaller the pixels, the more noise is a problem. With Canon, the 1D MIII is great with noise control. The EO-1Ds MIII and the EOS-50D both have more problem with noise thatn the 1D III. One of the best ways to minimize noise is to be sure to expose all the way to the right.

No Artie it's not full frame. I cropped the image from the left and top. I think I was refering to full frame as in an FX camera handeling the noise.

[Jim Neiger]

Wow! Well done, buddy! PMP as Artie would say. I love the action and colors.

[Arthur Morris]

Wow! Well done, buddy! PMP as Artie would say. I love the action and colors.

Yes, Jim, PMP, but you had better register that with the BPN AP, the Abbreviations Police :) :D :)

Alan, I was not referring to anything that you wrote, I was just being curious.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I am not sure if anyone mentioned the perfect subject to imaging sensor juxtaposition, but it is perfect.

[Alan Murphy]

PMP? Don't know that one.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

PMP? Don't know that one.

Pretty much perfect. © Arthur Morris :)

[Arthur Morris]

PMP = pretty much perfect. But this image goes well beyond that....

[Desmond Chan]

Just great! What more can one add.

Besides the good ISO performance the D3 has, it also has great AF. I've seen a flying baseball caught sharp in a photo taken with a D3. The photog said he didn't have time to focus but just lifted the camera and fired. So I think you can say the camera actually took the shot by itself :)

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Alan, this is fantastic. Sweet bg and perfect pose frozen. Colors are gorgeous.

Szimi

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Nothing more to add Alan!

Love it 100%.