The mate

[Amit Gupta]

Female of the Crimson backed Sunbird, Periyar, Feb 2009.

40D + 70-300 IS, Ap Priority. Full Frame as I remember it, a little sharpening added.

f/5.6; 1/200 ISO 100

[Bibhav Behera]

Lovely shot. i love the framing of the bird and the colour scheme... You could crop out the small red patch off the top right corner. A bit of the right wing and tail detail is lost. That recovered would make this priceless...

[Sudipto Roy]

That's a beautiful shot. Such shots are always difficult to focus as the branch was probably swinging mildly, sending the subject in and out of focus constantly.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Amit,
I like this one. You are putting the 70-300mm to good use. Last year, I was photographing in Malaysia at 800mm, when suddenly a small songbird came and perched 3 feet away. My guide could click with his intermediate lens and got a much better shot. One needs to be still and wait for these fellows.

I have reposted a version. I have increased the exposure, opened up the shadows a little bit. Cropped a little bit from the top.

This would have worked as a vertical as well. You have to make quick decisions in the field about going vertical, as most of the times we hold the camera in horizontal manner.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi