Little Bee - eater male

[Carl Walker]

• © Carl Walker

A few weeks ago we did our prescribed burns for the year on the reserve. Sadly, quite often, some of the dead older trees get burnt ( I say this as these trees provide great perching positions for raptors as well as adds something unique to the landscape scenery) during this period. However there are benefits to this as they do occasionally add to certain niches in nature. When the tree disappears in ashes it leaves an open gaping hole in the ground including little tunnels where the roots had once established during its lifetime. This provides a perfect opportunity for certain animal and bird species to utilise these holes for various purposes.

Along the route I travel almost daily through the bush I came across two pairs of Little Bee -eaters (at different locations along the same road) that had chosen these holes to nest in. So I have had some fun photographing them from time to time. I have observed some really interesting behaviour and hope that when I get some good material that I can share this with you later on.

I shot this image along with a number of others in intermittent cloudy weather the past few days. So in order to capture BIF I had to use higher ISO settings than I have used previously. I need to experience my 1D MK IV ISO capabilities and to work with the noise in PP work.

Please could someone advise as to what may be happening with my techs for this as even with higher speeds of 1/3200 secs I am still getting some wing blur. I normally shoot at f6.3 and f8 for smaller birds but had to shoot at f5.6 to keep ISO to 3200 most of the time. These guys are fast so I shot them by focusing on them at the perch then recomposing to anticipate take off and landing as they almost always hunt from the same perch for periods of time.

My only conclusion so far, is that it is a bit of a hit and miss snapping off fps as to whether I can get them on the right focal plane during these forays after prey.

The distance was about 15 - 18ft so I did crop it a bit. So there is some loss of detail.

Bean bag support
Canon 1D MK IV, 300 f2.8 + 2 X extender MK III
ISO 2500 - f5.6 - 1/2500 sec

LR 5 basics
PSE 9 - BG NR - USM - crop - I tried to clone the rear branch but for some reason I have not worked out yet I cannot. I left space on the LHS and above as the bird is about to fly up.


Look forward to some C &C

 

[Diane Miller]

What a gorgeous bird! I live the pose, just taking flight. And the almost-gray BG and perch make the bird stand out so well. I think a somewhat tighter crop would make the bird even more dramatic.

It's possible the blurred wingtips are a combination of both shutter speed and shallow DOF. Whatever it is, it's not a problem for me -- it adds to the sense of motion.

 

[vishaljadhav]

One impressive image Carl,
I like the choice of the crop may be i may clone the twig behind however its more a matter of personal taste and as presented looks nice too
i love the take off pose and the blurred wings give it a sense of motion which makes a special action image
head position and the eye look lovely, nice image

 

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent dynamic pose & lovely colors, BG & HA. Agree with above comments about tighter crop & cloning suggestion. TFS

 

[Carl Walker]

• © Carl Walker

rp

Hi - repost with tighter crop

 

[Diane Miller]

I love it even more this way!!

 

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image. Love the repost.

 

[Lyle Gruby]

Agree, love the repost I'm not too surprised you have wing blur even at 1/2500 especially on takeoff like that. It does appear your DOF is very limited seeing how the tail and curve of the branch are OOF. However, the head is sharp, and that's what counts in wildlife photography. I couldn't be less bothered by the tail being OOF on this shot.

 

[gail bisson]

The repost is lovely. I find the head angle very engaging and the BG to be very complimentary.
IQ is excellent and the blurred wingtips give it a nice sense of motion,
Gail

 

[Andre Pretorius]

Carl, I to think the RP is stunning, you deserve the praise!
To stop wing-blur- you need minimum 1/3200.
The shallow DOF works well here, but is a gamble- with 5,6 your window for error is very small.

Congratulations!

 

[Mervyn Marsh]

beautiful bird, nice shot

 

[Rich Reich]

Carl,

I think the wing tip blur adds to the sucess of this image by conveying a sense of motion. I really like the end result.

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Carl:wave:

TOP SHOT! Brilliant capture!
Not a suggestion, since I love this image just the way it is, and especially the RP-if this were mine I would be naughty and remove both branches:bg3::w3:S3:. Just another version...

Warmest regards,

 

[Carl Walker]

Thanks for the comments and and suggestions folks. Much appreciated