Greater Coucal

[Shyamala Kumar]

It was really unfortunate that an electrical cable prevented an unobstructed view of the bird .Consequently the tail has been slightly cropped for presentation with due apologies.Canon 60D EF 200mm 2.8 L+1.4x TC.FL-280mm,1/250s,f5.6,ISO 400.August 13-8.15am Hyderabad.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice sighting. Agree these days there are electric wires or cable wires everywhere. Even trees are not left, instead they tie the wires on trees :(. Please check the AF point, it seems it is locked on the leaves infront of the bird's eye. Nice composition and good you got the bird in open. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

It is nice that you got the head in the clear. Most of the times they move behind branches and it becomes difficult to get a clear shot.

I guess the image was originally underexposed. There are still dark areas which have lost details. Normally when the subject is infront of a bright background or sky is part of the frame, the meter reads the entire scene and brings the brightness down to the level of middle gray. So the middle tones are exposed much less ie the subject becomes underexposed. So dialing a positive exposure compensation during such situations will help the image. When the image is correctly exposed the noise will also be less.

Are you changing the AF (auto focus) points and placing it on the subject and shooting? Or do you have all the AF points on?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Shyamala Kumar]

Thanks for the tips Sabyasachi .I am changing the autofocus points and exposure settings to suit various photographic situations but as it often happens I end up using a given configuration setting for a pariticular focal length, for a totally different one.These Avian denizens are so unpredictable!!But I am learning.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Don't worry. Its just a matter of practice. Soon pointing the lens and moving the various buttons will become like second nature. When you periodically look back at your older images you will realise the progress.