Orange headed thrush

[Sudipto Roy]

Orange headed thrush (nominate male) captured in Narendrapur, CKBS. Exif details -

Aperture priority. Shutter speed 1/80 (tripod mounted). Exposure compensation -1/3. Aperture - 8.0. ISO 200.

It's an overhead shot that could not be avoided because birds don't always perch where we want them to !!! :lol:

[Bibhav Behera]

The composition is fine. The in focus leaf next to the bird is a bit distracting. How big a crop is this? Thanks for sharing.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Agree getting a bird perched at eye level with clear background is not always possible. I liked the eye contact. The narrow aperture has helped. It is good that you were using the tripod else photographing at 1/80 would have been difficult. Thanks for sharing.

[Sudipto Roy]

@ Bibhav - This is about 60 per cent of the original frame. I agree on the point made about the leaf. I didn't really want to check my cloning skills on that.
@ Mrudul - I am glad I had the tripod. My friend, who had left the tripod in the car, couldn't get a decent shot. Because steadily shooting overhead shots with a heavy camera pointing upwards is even more tough than shooting at eye level.

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

A good shot given the conditions... Nice sharpness thanks to the tripod. :)
Trying waiting for a little while, this bird is sure to come down to the ground. Thanks for sharing.

[Sudipto Roy]

Yes Abhishek these birds do forage on the ground. But given the situation of the place the nearest photographable ground was quite far off. And the park was too full of people at that point of time for it to consider coming down to the ground level.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely bird.

The eye contact is fine. I can see some cobwebs on the top right hand corner. Which software are you using to convert the images? Which tripod?

If the bird is perched at one place, then I may try using the mirror lock up as well. Not easy if the bird moves, but helps in giving good sharpness if the bird is stationary.

Increasing the ISO will also help in giving you a faster shutter speed and better sharpness.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Atul Dhamankar]

Good image, but wish it more sharp.

[Mohan Raj]

I like the colour of the bird. Catchlight in the eyes is good. :thumbup1:
This bird looks to be different than the one we see in Western Ghats, because I found some white streaks near the eyes in WG.
TFS.

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Lovely image, agree about sharpness

[Sudipto Roy]

@ Mohan Raj - This is the nominate race that you find in this part of the world where I live. In fact I mentioned that in my caption.
The ones with vertical black stripes on head are called zoothera citrona cyanotus, another variety. They are found only in peninsular India. In most nature photography forum in India you find photographs only of that variety because any day there are more nature photographers in Bangalore than in Calcutta !!!
@ Sabyasachi - I use Canon's digital photo professional to do some very basic noise reduction and sharpening and RAW conversion. After that I use photoshop CS2 for level and sharpness correction. All this on my iMac.
The tripod I have started using of late is a Manfrotto 055XPROB with Manfrotto 496RC2 head. I am quite happy with the performance so far.
I am yet to master the skill of locking the mirror. It's on my agenda though.
@ Atul - Anything sharper and I would have cut my fingers. :-) But seriously even I wish it was sharper. Probably it would have been if the tip of the bill and the tail was on the same lateral plane.