Took a break from my morning jogs to go out for a walk and shoot today. Shooting after a break, I fumbled more than usual and missed some good opportunities. But it wasn't a bad day.

A Brown Headed Barbet



Bougainvilleas treas are in full blossoms and there were a lot of Ashy Prinias breakfasting on the nectar.





Coppersmith Barbet





Ashy Drongo breakfasts on the bud of a Amaltas blossom

[Cee Cee]

some interesting birds I've not seen before, good job on the shots
cheers

[Inexorable]

some interesting birds I've not seen before, good job on the shots
cheers

Thanks Cee Cee! One day I will summon up the courage to comment on your inspiring photography.

Surprisingly you can see all these birds while walking on the streets early in the morning. I would go to the extent of saying, birding is the only worthwhile street photography in India. Keeping the barrel of your lens horizontal while walking the streets would result in mostly dark and depressing images!

[GeoJerry]

These are great shots! I hadn't thought too much about trying my 55-300 out on bird pictures, but I should.
Out of curiosity, how did you focus? I've had a little trouble with my 55-300 in getting a crisp shot (maybe because I dropped it a few years ago).

[Inexorable]

These are great shots! I hadn't thought too much about trying my 55-300 out on bird pictures, but I should.
Out of curiosity, how did you focus? I've had a little trouble with my 55-300 in getting a crisp shot (maybe because I dropped it a few years ago).

GeoJerry,

Thanks!

What I have learn't is to always focus on the lit up side of a bird, so that there is enough contrast in the plumage because of the interspersed shadows. With back lighting, the 55-300 does a poor job even when the subject is close and the plumage colorful.

These shots are all handheld with the camera inclined 60 plus degrees upward from the horizontal. The sun had just risen and the camera was invariably pointed west.

These small birds quickly flit from one spot to the other, so manual focus is out of question.

[8540tomg]

GeoJerry,

These small birds quickly flit from one spot to the other, so manual focus is out of question.

Great series.

Nice to see species which are so different from those in my part of the world.

I would encourage you not to give up on manual focus just yet. AF is often fooled by the branches and twigs birds are usually found in.

I use MF almost all the time. To be frank I don't have a lot of choice as all my telephoto lenses are manual focus.

That being said, with time, effort, a lot of failures and patience you can manage some get shots of even the most skittish birds.

The link below has some samples of my work with the SMC Pentax M 400/5.6. They are all manual focus.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/130-lens-sample-photo-archive/157636-smc-...400-5-6-a.html

I've also have a few million failures I don't really want to talk about.

.
Tom G

[Inexorable]

Tom,

Thanks for the encouraging words.

The link below has some samples of my work with the SMC Pentax M 400/5.6. They are all manual focus.

Your photos are breathtaking!

You are right about the usefulness of manual focus when there is a lot of foliage / leaves around the subject and I always support the camera with my thumb and forefinger on the focus ring for quick shift to manual. What I find exasperating about manual focus is there comes a zone where I can rotate the focus ring quite some without discerning any variation in sharpness! This could be a eyesight problem. I guess with enough practice I would be able to rotate the focus ring to the midway point purely by feel. I haven't reached that level of expertise and will take your advice and continue to work on it.

Vijainder

[8540tomg]

Thanks Vijainder,

These are some of my best and my success rate is probably about 3 or 4 per 100 shots. I was just out this morning with the 400mm and aside from the exercise the shoot was a total failure. Nothing but out of focus blurs. But that's the challenge of MF isn't it?

I see you are using a K 30. Might I suggest you switch out your focusing screen with a KatzEye or other after market screen. There will be no doubt when things are in focus with one of these installed. They, the KatzEye products, are expensive but work very well when manual focusing with a digital camera.

Pentax K-3 K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50 & K-500 KatzEye Focusing Screen

Tom G

[Inexorable]

Thanks Vijainder,

These are some of my best and my succes rate is probably about 3 or 4 per 100 shots. I was just out this morning with the 400mm and aside from the exercise the shoot was a total failure. Nothing but out of focus blurs. But that's the challenge of MF isn't it?

I see you are using a K 30. Might I suggest you switch out your focusing screen with a KatzEye or other after market screen. There will be no doubt when things are in focus with one of these installed. They, the KatzEye products, are expensive but work very well when manual focusing with a digital camera.

Pentax K-3 K-5, K-5II, K-7, K-30, K-50 & K-500 KatzEye Focusing Screen

Tom G

I see you are using a K 30. Might I suggest you switch out your focusing screen with a KatzEye or other after market screen. There will be no doubt when things are in focus with one of these installed. They, the KatzEye products, are expensive but work very well when manual focusing with a digital camera.

Tom,

Thanks! That is great information! I had read about it often on the forum but had never dug deeper. Yes, it might just be the thing I need!

It might be a while before I get it, being in India, but not too long. Our elder daughter is scheduled to visit us in May next year.

Vijainder