The red-flanked bluetail ranges from Finland to East Asia. I'm judging this one to be an immature male because of the high amount of blue on the tail. Photographed in a park in Shanghai, where Luscinia cyanura is a common winter resident. When this Old World robin moved out of profile and into a look-back pose, I said no problem, stopped down to F/9, and moved my ISO up to 1600. The entire bird is in focus, and the noise at ISO 1600 is negligible.
Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal length: 600mm
VR: ON
Aperture: F/9
Shutter Speed: 1/320s
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Metering: Center-Weighted
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 1600
Photoshoppery: Noise reduction on all OOF areas. The bluetail uses this perch frequently; the area of the log just below the tail was naturally spotted with poop. I told Mother Nature I knew better and cloned out the poop.
A cute fellow, like the subtle blue flash on tail.
Good thinking to quickly change settings for more DOF, and trusting in the superior high ISO performance of the D3S to save the day.
Obviously a massive perch for this little guy, but the cropping reduces its impact.
Since you were doing some white wash eviction, I would go ahead and remove the round white spot on the edge of the bark as well.
Hi Craig, good choice of aperture to cover the little guy in your DOF range. Lovely pose, and against a lovely smooth BG. I would maybe blend in the dark area of the LLC, and maybe lighten the eye a tad - if possible. Good to see you posting a variety of species from your 'park'. You provide us with endless info - thanks.
Well done on the techs which has resulted in a super image. Like the lookback and eye contact but especially as mentioned the drooping wing posture which is so well illustrated here. Also like the way you have captured the subtle colours of the Bluetail.
Red-flanked Bluetail
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