To me, this shot is soft but I did the shot f2.8 with ISO 100 no crop and no sharpening. How stupid I was at the time.

Due to the bush fire in victoria Oz, these precious native birds are running away from the heat and drought.

This sighting was noted along my path near King lake. I had my A* 300 f2.8 on a monopod and captured this shot by luck.

Maybe I should have increased ISO to 400 and take the shot at least at f3.5. The bird is so agile that its torso was never parallel to my camera.





Thanks for looking; location: King Lake national park

[Duncan J Murray]

Lovely shot, Roentarre. The blue is lovely, and has come out really nice. I don't think the photo is soft, although a bit of stopping down might have helped get this guys feet in the photo! I think if the bird had been very cooperative, I would have either done a different composition (with the bird to the left, or just poking out the bottom) - but personally, I think I would have failed to have gotten anything this good if given an A300/2.8 in the same situation!

Duncan.

[roentarre]

This photo has great potential, but could probably do with some PP.

I'd recommend cropping fairly significantly so that the bird's tail is in the left side of the frame.

Next- maybe some shadow/highlight to bring some detail to the blacks and the eye.

Then some sharpening...

The only other thing that I can see that would possibly have made this even better is a lower angle. Not sure if it was an option, but ground birds sometimes require getting down on your belly to get the best shots!

Thanks for the useful comments! I will attempt more shots in the future. I had cropped the photo like what you had said above but it looked softer now but with better look.



mmmmm Lying on the belly to do this shot... Like a marine crawling in the mud? One day I might be like that soon.

[roentarre]

Lovely shot, Roentarre. The blue is lovely, and has come out really nice. I don't think the photo is soft, although a bit of stopping down might have helped get this guys feet in the photo! I think if the bird had been very cooperative, I would have either done a different composition (with the bird to the left, or just poking out the bottom) - but personally, I think I would have failed to have gotten anything this good if given an A300/2.8 in the same situation!

Duncan.

I did the shot as Tom suggested. For some reasons, without crop actually gives a dreamy feel. Maybe the shallow depth of field really is something...

Yeah, pity about the feet. It was so dark in the wood though. I was lucky enough to even track the birds in time. My fingers were all sore...

[Rolly]

The "freshening" around the eye worked well but the heavy cropping has taken the wee beasty completely out of context. OK for scientific illustrative purposes but missing that 'something' in the original that shows the inherent liveliness of these tiny creatures.
For those not familiar with them, the 'Superb Fairy-Wren' (Malurus cyaneus) measures less than 150mm and is constantly on the move, typically flitting and darting amongst the grasses and undergrowth and rarely posing for portraits, not even for the most dedicated of nature photographers!

[roentarre]

The "freshening" around the eye worked well but the heavy cropping has taken the wee beasty completely out of context. OK for scientific illustrative purposes but missing that 'something' in the original that shows the inherent liveliness of these tiny creatures.
For those not familiar with them, the 'Superb Fairy-Wren' (Malurus cyaneus) measures less than 150mm and is constantly on the move, typically flitting and darting amongst the grasses and undergrowth and rarely posing for portraits, not even for the most dedicated of nature photographers!

What a name! That sounds so sophisticated. The first time I saw this bird was in Wilson Promontory of Victoria during a camping trip. It was hopping around like grass hopers (only more agile ).

I used to use canon 300mm f4L IS or 400mm f5.6L to manage to get a few shots. But bird's eyes are never "clear" or sharp and the blueness of the plumage almost appear like a flooding disaster.

This bird really has my fascination and I wish they can always be within my reach of the lens..