"the sweetest kiss"......

[Subramanniyan Mani]

Early Morning is the best time to catch Sunbirds....so i visited Hebbal Park (Bangalore) with that purpose in mind today. The light was not too good, and most of the park is under shade, So i decided to up the ISO till i get a reasonable shutter speed of 1/2000.....I am not entirely satisfied with the images
I got today....but it helped me to prepare myself for tomorrow.

Exif : F4, 300 MM, ISO 1600, 1/2000, Handheld, 7.30 morning....

Equipment: Canon 7D, Canon 300 IS USM F4

Please Critique this image, so that i can learn!!!

[Bhargava Srivari]

Composing birds in flight is always tough..more so if the bird can fly as fast as this one! You've done exceptionally well here...love the composition too One query though...as a thumb rule, anything over 1/1000sec should be fine for BIF...so even at ISO 1250 or so, you would have got more than the 1/1000..isnt it?

Tfs

Bhargava

[Subramanniyan Mani]

Bhargava, as i mentioned earlier, the area was mostly under shade....so i prepared for that, luckily i got this one in the open.....also if you want to freeze the quick movent of wings, i doubt if 1/1000 will be able to do the job....i would have preffered 1/3000 shutter speed as far as this bird is concerned.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice image of a female sunbird. It is good that you have been able to capture it in flight.

These birds are pretty fast. If they are perched on a branch and sucking nectar, then the minimum shutter speed of 1/750 may suffice, provided they don't move. 1/1600 would be nearly there and at 1/2000 upwards would be great.

One other aspect is the focus. No amount of shutter speed will get you a sharp image if don't get critical focus on the bird.

The best technique is to be patient and wait near a flowering plant. Once these cute little fellow comes near a flower you have a second or two to lock focus and get some sharp images.

Look at the direction they fly towards the flower. Accordingly you can setup your AF.

Who much of a crop is this? I would prefer a normal rectangular crop with space at left. Wings completely up would look great. Keep on trying. Look forward to more.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nicely captured. Lovely eye contact. Good clean background. I agree a rectangular framing or even a vertical composition would have looked good. The coloured flowers add to the image. Wish the bright out of focus spot was not behind it, but that it not in your control. Look forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Wow! The action is nicely freezed, love this
tfs

[Mohan Raj]

One of the best photographs I have seen of a Sunbird. Well composed.

TFS.

[Henry Gonsalves]

Fantastic shot!!!!!!

[A.S.Chandrashekaran]

Hi there Mani,
A beautiful picture - You've been lucky. I have tried often to capture one and never managed a good & clear one like yours. They flit about so rapidly.