NZ Tui

[Tony Whitehead]

Tui displaying to try and drive the competition away from a nectar feeding station, Tiritiri Matangi.
Nikon D700
Nikon 200-400 @340mm. monopod
ISO 800, 1/1000 f8
Matrix -2/3
High diffused sun. SB900 + BB to try and fill the shadows but this was part of a burst and no flash on this exposure as it had not recycled yet despite an external battery pack.
All comments and advice appreciated.

[Doug Brown]

I don't think the lack of flash hurt you here Tony. This bird looks like it's surfing on a big wave. Very cool pose! I like the wing blur combined with the sharp eye.

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Tony: The pose, the perch, the composition and the exposure all go together to make this a spectacular shot in my eyes. Bokeh is extraordinary by the way. Did you do something in PP or did it just come out that way from that big 200 - 400? Thanks.

[Harshad Barve]

Wing blurr adds to action here in IMHO , what a wonderful species
Lovely pose and agreed with Doug about surfing on big wave , killer BG
TFS

[John Blumenkamp]

Wow... beautiful composition, details and colors, and the wing motion really adds a lot here in my opinion. Great image.

[Tony Whitehead]

Hi Tony: The pose, the perch, the composition and the exposure all go together to make this a spectacular shot in my eyes. Bokeh is extraordinary by the way. Did you do something in PP or did it just come out that way from that big 200 - 400? Thanks.

The BG was pretty smooth but I did select and add a little extra Gaussian blur in post. Having the lens wide open gave the BG I wanted but gave too narrow a DOF to capture the bird as I wanted.

[Bonnie Block]

Very interesting image --the perch and pose really make you take a second look. He really has some attitude!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Tony, super pose, and follows the line of the curled perch. A very colourful looking bird, and I like the fancy collar.

[Betsie Storm]

Tony, Everything pretty much said already- well captured, I specifically like the bird shape following that of perch. Yet another new species....

[arash_hazeghi]

Love the pose, blurred wings give a sense of motion while sharp eye is a pivotal point for the image. Good stuff

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Tony, I like this a lot. The pose is interesting and the blurred wings add drama in my opinion. I think Doug's analogy of a surfer fits this image perfectly. Good eye contact and background. Very nice!!! Thanks for sharing.

[denise ippolito]

Tony, The pose and the eye contact are great. I like the curved line of the driftwood as it fits nicely with the back wing position. Very different looking image. Nicely done.

[Marina Scarr]

You have a great pose here, and I love the texture and curves of the drivewood. I think I would have captioned this on "Surfing the Wave." I do agree that a bit of fill flash would have filled in the shadows a bit and showed off even more beautiful colors. Would love to see one of the captures with flash so that we could see the difference.

[Peregrine Craig Nash]

Nice One Tony No Wonder it used to be called the Parson Bird!!