Crimson Backed Sunbird

[Amit Gupta]

This beautiful bird was taken in not-so-ideal afternoon sun. Kerela, Feb '09

Canon 40D with 70-300IS lens.

1/400 ; F5.6 ; ISO100

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Amit,

It is tough to nail these birds. However, you have succeeded to a large extent. Is this a cropped image? I would crop the small part of the branch near the right frame.

Were you handholding? A higher sharpness would have been better. Small birds move fast and require higher shutter speeds. A higher shutter speed would have been better. Since you were using ISO 100, you could have easily used ISO 200. That would have given you a shutter speed of 1/800th and sufficient to arrest subject movement.

During post processing you can open up the shadows a bit so that the eye portion becomes more prominent.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Amit Gupta]

Handheld, And a poor cropping job.

Thanks for the feedback. Then, I figured ISO 100 best for the ample light available.

I was shooting his mate, in the shade when i noticed this guy and had just a two exposure op. It was windy in the open as well. ( the mate shot follows)