Black headed jay

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Dear All,
Took a quick break to Pangoot, 16 Kms from Nainital, at 6250 ft.
The place is a birdwatchers paradise, though hampered by incessant rains and low visibility, caught up with several species endemic to the Himalayan foothills.

Black Headed jay, @ F4, 1/125, iso 1600, EOS 50D+ 300 f4 IS L

look forward to comments.
cheers
Dipankar

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Bueatiful bird.image looks hazy.Looking fwd to the other endemics.TFS

Roopak

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely eye contact. Nice colours and perch. The background nicely displays its habitat. Look forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Dipankar,
I would love to photograph this species sometime. Nice eye contact. The branch nicely frames the bird.

It is not easy to click in mist and rain. You were already at ISO 1600 so the light levels would be very low. I wish you have better light. In these conditions, it is much better to use the f4 of the 300mm rather than the f5.6 with the 1.4x attached or a f5.6 of a 100-400 lens.

In such conditions, you have to give a positive exposure compensation depending upon how thick the fog is. Also, you seem to have got the bird in thick canopy. You have done well under the prevailing conditions. Look forward to more.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Dear Sabyasachi da,
I am glad you endorsed the exif as i was in serious quandary about using the 1.4xII, however the nature of light and that fact that the birds were skittlish dictated a faster focus. This time i set my ISO at automatic as due to the persistent rains i got very few chances to go out and look for the birds and i did not want to goof up the few chances by a wrong choice of ISO resulting in handshake.The exertions of trekking uphill meant that i discarded my tripod and did all the photography handheld. I wonder how pros manage with a 500 f4+tripod in such terrain.
Many of my photographs have a white haze due to the mist and the corresponding loss of detail, is there any way to fix it ??
BTW i would recommend a visit to Pangoot to everybody, especially enthusiasts in north India, Its a unspoilt place, and amongst the few remaining places where mobiles do not work.
Cheers
Dipankar

[Sabyasachi Patra]

You need to increase the black point a bit while processing in these situations. Remember to give a positive exposure compensation (+1/3rd, +2/3rd EV depending on situations).

One stop of light can be the difference between a shot and a badly blurred one. It is not easy to maintain a steady hand in such situations. Carrying a tripod is tough. A monopod would be better in such situations. If not a monopod, then find the nearest person and place the lens on his shoulder and fire. :D

I am spending more time in Delhi these days. May be when there is less of work pressure, I will try to go to some of these places.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi