Shikra

[Nishad Rangnekar]

Kanha National park, May 2009, Canon 40D, Canon EF 300F4L + 1.4 TC, Iso 200, AE mode , Aperture set 5.6, shutter speed achieved 1/160, evaluative metering. This shikra was perched under lot of shade as were we. used a monopod resting on the ground from the gypsy. All C & C eagerly awaited.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nishad,
Good pose. I agree with the composition. The rim lighting around the tail feathers is nice. It is unfortunate that there is a bright patch of sky behind the Shikra. It is not easy to always move to avoid it, as you may disturb the bird. However, a slight change in position would have helped.

Which software do you use for post processing? You can work on the levels and open up the blacks and shadows a bit.

Cheers,
Sabysachi

[Nishad Rangnekar]

Dear Sabyasachi, I forgot to mention that this is a full frame shot. and the bird was quite restless so couldnt position the gypsy or the angle of the monopod.
and i use picasa and zoom browser for pp. i am planning to learn CS3, i have already got a copy of that from harshad but still didnt use it. i will try to highlight the black using cs3. thanks for the tip.
regards

[Mital Patel]

hi nishad,
this is really nice image if this is a full frame.
little job of pp can do a gr8 to this frame.

here is what i did in PS CS3

[Harshad Barve]

Great capture & very well done Mital

PP is required but can help only on good images, this is nice image

TFS, Harshad

[Nishad Rangnekar]

my god mital what have you done to my image.... now the bird looks like a 3 dimensional subject clearly standing out from the background.. classic work. can i get some details of what actually you changed in cs3. i am not very friendly with cs3, still trying to learn the basics. and yes i assure you that this is a full frame image. i have another one with bird perching in a different angle. will pp it with cs3 this time and upload it soon. thanks for showing me the scope of improving.
warm regards

[AB Apana]

Backlit images always cause PP problems. The highlights in the BG are distracting.

Is your lens the IS version, in which case you don't need the monopod.

Apana

[Nishad Rangnekar]

yes my lens is with IS, but i am reluctant to use it handheld, always try to use a tripod , a bean bag ,if not atleast a monopod.in some cases i do handheld but am reluctant to do so.

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

Lovely image. The bird is exposed beautifully. The rim lighting cold have been accentuated .

In PP you can do a lot with such imges. Here is a hurridely done one.
Cloned the twig in front , the white patch behind ( Not a good job ) , and increased bit of contrast .