A Chinese penduline tit makes a quick flight to a new reed in a small reedbed near the East China Sea. I invested a few hours yesterday photographing these small reedbed specialists. This shot may be busy, but what it lacks in simplicity it makes up for in accuracy--this is a faithful depiction of a penduline tit in her world. Remiz consobrinus rarely leaves the thick reeds, it moves fast and constantly, and it is not very confiding, making photography a challenge. This bird, a female, may have wintered in the region but needs to fly north, probably to Manchuria or the Russian Far East, to breed. I used my 1.4x teleconverter.
Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal Length: 850mm
Aperture: F/8
Shutter Speed: 1/6400
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 2500
Subject Distance: 11.9 m
Photoshoppery: I retained between a quarter to a third of the original canvas. Using content-aware fill, I cloned out a few ghostly strips of vegetation far right and a faint reed above the head of the bird.
Hi Craig, nice sharp image of this small bird in it's environment and glad to see you are using the 1.4 converter. To be honest, I find the bird a bit to small in the frame. The reed behind the head is also distracting TFS
Extremely difficult to capture - I am sure. I think it records the bird very well in it's environment. You could, I suppose, clone and patch even more but then you would of course lose the environment - nice shot I like it.
Very nice BIF shot with habitat! Great sharpness, detail, and like how the habitat color compliments the tit's color. Agree the the reed behind head is a bit distracting, but nice capture!
Vivaldo, hi, thank you for showing me the excellent results achievable with the 600 mm lens plus 1.4x teleconverter. I had you in mind yesterday as I worked.
Jonathan: Thanks for appreciating the slipperiness of the Chinese penduline tit. Regarding cloning, I tried to balance aesthetics with misrepresenting the environment in which the bird lives.
I think it is great, it has a nice environmental look. The background does not seem busy to me, simple lines, not too many, enough open space. The color match of the bird and reeds is a big plus. The wing spread is great too.