Red Cheeked Cordon-Bleu

[Rohan Kamath]

Canon EOS-40D
Sigma 70-300mm(at 263mm)
f/6.3
1/400sec.
ISO-640
EC-0
Pattern Metering
Aperture Priority

Something seems badly wrong with this image. I can't figure out what but its bugging me. Please tell me how I can improve it.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

What a beautiful bird, I don't think I've seen this species before. Cute pose and nice BG, too. The bird is too low in the frame for my taste and looks rather soft, probably due to motion blur.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Nice looking bird with beautiful pose but looks soft to my monitor

[Rohan Kamath]

I guess the softness if due the fact that my hand shook a little...The lens does not have an image stabilizer so the effect is very clearly seen... Sorry about that... Will make efforts to minimize camera shake in the future.
:D

[Brian Barcelos]

I agree with what has been said. You could have bumped up the ISO a bit to get a faster shutter speed and that would have helped with getting a sharper image. Very beautiful species by the way.

Brian

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Rohit, the problems as I see them are (a) camera shake as you said in the last note. (b) A little underexposed for y taste (c) bird is tilted a litte too much (d) the shake might be misleading me but I dont think the focus is on the eye (e) although colors are good, the contrast does not seem very nice. (f) more space is needed below.

Beautiful bird. Where did you shoot it? certainly not our hometown...I am from Pune too :-) Infact, I dont think this bird is found in India.

[Rohan Kamath]

Thanks for the inputs Kaustubh...Appreciate it...I'll keep them all in mind in the future...I shot this in kenya in june...

[Arthur Morris]

I guess the softness if due the fact that my hand shook a little...The lens does not have an image stabilizer so the effect is very clearly seen... Sorry about that... Will make efforts to minimize camera shake in the future. :D

Welcome Rohan. Best bet for sharp images: use a tripod. The other point have been well covered.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Your biggest enemy in this image is equipment shake. As Artie mentions, a tripod will be your best friend if those are the results you keep getting. If you insist on keeping on handholding make sure to tuck your elbows tight against your body - right hand on the camera (obviously) but the left hand under the lens barrel to properly balance it all, and press your face tightly on the camera back. Those are just a few handholding tips, but are things to consider practicing.

[Harshad Barve]

If i were you , I would have bumped the ISO to get better SS, handholding tips are beautiful , Grab it by both hands

BTW , what a species this is
TFS

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Keep at it, all good suggestions. If the light were better, your SS would have increased. Other than Daniel's tip, use any means possibly to stabilize yourself (if you don't have a tripod). Keep them coming mate. Nice looking bird!