Black kite

[Sandesh Astgikar]

Canon 7D
Sigma 150-500mm 5.6-6.3
TV 1/8000, AV 6.3,ISO 800.
Shot at Kokkarebellur and hand held.

[Bhargava Srivari]

You got the sharp beak nicely. But, you should probably try and recover more details on the bird...I am not too sure but 1/8000sec was a little too much!! There wasn't enough time for the sensor to take in sufficient light maybe...otherwise, good clarity and the diagonal composition is fine:)

tfs

Bhargava

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice flight pose captured. I agree with Bhargava, a slight narrower aperture would have helped. A shutter speed of 1/2000 in this case should be sufficient. To capture a kingfisher in flight might need a higher shutter speed. Some more space on top and bottom would have been good as the wing tips are nearly touching the frame. Wish the light was from the left. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with the Bhargava and Mrudul. 1/8000 is not required here. Were you using aperture priority or shutter priority? Did you set 1/8000 or the it was selected automatically?

More space at top and bottom would have been good as there is hardly any separation between the wings and the top and the bottom frames.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Agree with Sabyasachi here...I guess you were shooting on Tv mode and selected the shutter speed manually. If it was so, i generally prefer shooting in Av mode and deal with setting the aperture values myself and let the camera decide upon the shutter speed. This method works best when using a monopod or a tripod:) If you were using the same mode, I guess there isn't much you could have done...anyway this image looks alright except for some details and little tweaks on the composition front:)

Tfs again

[Sabyasachi Patra]

While critiquing images, I normally ask for the amount of crop. The reason for that is, if the bird is small in the frame and you have done a large crop, then meter tends to underexpose the subject. The sky is obviously brighter than the bird and hence the camera meter reading is according to it, as the sky dominates. In that case, if you have selected AV, then the camera is likely to select a higher shutter speed underexposing the subject.

That is the reason why I asked if it was shot using aperture priority or shutter priority. (I didn't mention manual as in manual and in shutter priority you select the shutter speed on your own.)

Unless all exif details and amount of crop etc are mentioned, it won't be easy for us to give the right critique to help in improving the image and/or increase learning.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Sagar Patil]

Nice angle agree about shutter speed.

Hi Sabyasachi, could you please answer solution for this "Did you set 1/8000 or the it was selected automatically?"
What is the solution if camera selects 1/8000 automatically even at F11 or so?

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The amount of light being constant the shutter speed and aperture will change according to one another. 1/8000 is the fastest shutter speed available. At that shutter speed, the shutter opens and closes very very rapidly and the amount of light passing through is very less. F11 aperture is narrow and the amount of light passing though it is less as compared to f5.6 or f4 etc. If you select both 1/8000 shutter and f11 aperture, then the light has to be very very bright. We don't see that often in nature, and hence the image is going to be underexposed.

The camera can select that kind of shutter speed if you are directly pointing at the bright sun, with the bird a tiny spec. Remember, that with long tele lenses the sensor can get damaged if pointed directly at sun for a prolonged period.

[Sagar Patil]

Yes Sabyasachi, Agree with all your explaination.

can you suggest an ideal setting for capturing flying bird, say an Ibis shooting at 9 AM / 10 AM this summer morning and sunlight from perfect direction. Provided all weather around is perfect.

Do you suggest this? ISO 200, F 5.6 / F 8 and SS at 800 or 1000, Ev: -1/3

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Sagar,
As a general rule, for capturing bright white coloured birds like pelican etc in bright light, clear sky conditions, you need to start at ISO 200, 1/1000 or even 1/1250 at f8. However, you need to be careful about slight increase or decrease in light (due to clouds) and keep an eye on the histogram so that you know you are not blowing the highlights.