I found this goldcrest on Tuesday in a park in Shanghai. The super-lightweight Regulus regulus uses its ability to hover as a portable perch, inspecting otherwise unreachable places in search of bugs. This little guy tips the scales at about 6g. He probably spent the summer in the Russian Far East.
Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal length: 600mm
VR: OFF
Aperture: F/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Metering: Center-Weighted
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 3200
Photoshoppery: Sunlight was blaring from the leaf left; I altered natural history there. Noise reduction on BG but not on bird and leaves.
Great behavior shot Craig! Definitely one of your best. Perfect exposure, sharpness, and comp. Good job on the PS work, can't tell that anything was done to the leaf. The only thing I might do would be to use a low opacity clone stamp and go over the two brown splotches in the BG to blend them in a bit better.
Superbly timed capture of this little beauty. We never ever see them so clearly here in India, let alone photograph one, so this is a real treat. The feet hanging out from under the near wing add nicely.
-Regards,
Rohan
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Great timing Craig an excellent BIF image. Love the slight blur on the wings and sharp head with good eye contact. I also like the leaves which I feel add to the image. Agree with Aidan re toning down the brown spots.
Hey Craig, I love this shot...knowing goldcrests, how small and quick they are I think this is a great flight shot. The sharp beak / eyes and blurred wing tips is just nice. I love the background and the crop too. Great job ! Cheers.