Common Quail

Species: Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)
Family: Phasianidae
Place: Greater Rann of Kutch
Date: Feb 09, 2011

Camera gear: Canon 7D with Canon 300mmf4IS and Canon 1.4x TC, Handheld
Technical details:
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500s
ISO: 100

Nice display of habitat. The eye contact is good. Lovely details. Thanks for sharing.

Nice first post Shreeram!

I agree with Mrudul that the eye contact is good. The habitat has come out well. I like the composition. However, a question.

Why only ISO 100? How much crop is this image?

Increasing the ISO to 200 could have allowed you to use a narrow aperture f8, bringing in more of the habitat into focus.

You have used a exposure compensation of -2/3 EV. Any further reducing the exposure in post processing? The habitat has come out dark, giving an impression of burnt grasses. Also, you may like to check the following article for shooting to the right for getting the maximum amount of details in your image. Indiawilds: Land of the Tiger. Conservation, Wildlife Photography, Communities

Thanks for sharing. Look forward to more from the Greater Rann of Kutch area which is an important bio-diversity area.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Thanks Sabyasachi and Mrudul.

Sabyasachi - To answer your questions:

This is around 70% of the frame.

I generally like to shoot f/8 for most wildlife. But, for this shot where the light was kind of falling at a good angle on the bird, I wanted focus on the bird only and ensure that the habitat is out of focus; so used f/5.6 for this shot.

About the EV, I've found that on my 7D, depending on the subject and situation, an EV range of -1 to +1 generally works well. So I keep changing it based upon the shot I want to take. I've increased exposure a bit in PS to bring out the details on the bird. The habitat is a bit dark because the bird was walking into the shadow of a bush.