Oriental honey buzzard

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM, EF 2xII, 1/1250, ISO 1600, handheld, so the high ISO and higher shutter speed.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Good to see you post birds regularly

This image is very nice, thanks to the good eye contact and the head turn. Did you try a vertical on the field? Handholding your lens is not possible for many! Do you have any plans of trading your lens for the newer 400 f2.8 L IS USM II as it has shed in excess of 2 kilos weight..that makes it a lot esier to handhold once in a while

On a side note, I have a feeling that the portion around the eye is slightly more brighter than the other parts of the bird.

tfs

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice photograph.Fine composition with the head turn and eyes sharply focussed on some object.It appears to me to be a Female with pale brown plummage.Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Ragoo Rao]

Lovely capture...Beautiful Image..!!

[Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati]

Nice head turn & eye contact.I like the composition.Little more space at the bottom would enhance image further.Thanks for sharing

[Atul Sinai]

Wonderful capture. Loved the head turn. TFS

Regards,
Atul

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Bhargava,
I had dialled in a -1/3 EV. Aperture was f8. I was shooting in Av mode. The details around the eye are there. It didn't get overexposed (burnt). During post processing it can be underexposed a little bit more, but part of the tail feathers will become dark.

I haven't done a vertical. I find the bare 400mm f2.8 can be handheld better. But when I add the 2xII TC, it becomes really tough to handhold.

I am not sure why I should buy the new 400mm f2.8 L IS II USM. My 400mm f2.8 L IS USM is the sharpest in Canon's lineup. Not sure how much better the new one would be. This year I have already spent a lot. 6000 + USD in just the OConnor fluid head. Nearly 3k + USD in Sachtler tripod. Another 3k + USD in Sound devices recorder and accessories. I should have some money left in hand to run IndiaWilds as well. :-) Film making is very very costly.

I hope I don't get into a situation where I need to invest on the new lens due to its lower weight. At least, I can't visualise it now. I hope you guys are not able to convince me.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Thanks Sabyasachi for the detailed reply. I thought I never said that the eye region is burnt...I only said that it was slightly more brighter than the body.

Knowing how much you've spent this year, I hope I will not even try to convince you on the new lens

[Supreet Sahoo]

This compo looks really good to me - The fact that the bird is slightly tilted to the left and the branch is inclined to the right side gives a nice balanced look. Handheld a 5+ kg lens !!! Incredible stuff

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Very nice image. It depicts very clearly a unique feature of the OHB. Incidentally the feature has triggered an exposure related query from Bhargava. The head of an OHB is covered with small scale like feathers and gives it a different texture from the upper neck. Being a specialist feeder on bee and wasp larva this feature helps the OHB in protecting itself from stings. The same is very evident in the image and has resulted in a slightly brighter appearance.
TFS
Roopak