Blue-throated Bee-eater

Thanks, CDS and Dimitri.

Here's another one, freshly processed, from among the tons I got in this sortie...

1DM2 + 400 5.6L, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320, manual exposure, hand held:

Fantastic looking bird and you have presented both shots beautifully. Excellent work!

Great capture of a truly beautiful bird.

Romy,
That's a great shot. Vibrant and yet natural colors on a very beautiful bird.

Wow..

Wonderful shots Romy (as usual), you are a careful and artful phototgrapher.

Romy,

I have no words to express the greatness of your avain photographs. Superb is an understatement!!

--gmaize

Very nice Romy,

The background colours match the bird. The head and back are very sharp with excellent eye detail. Your crop is good and to the correct side with the bird looking in.

I guess with huge focal length lenses the depth of field is a big problem. I see so many nice shots that are ruined with half the bird being out of focus. The fall off at the tail isn't distracting enough to take away from the brilliant capture.

Many years ago I used a 400mm Soligor with a 2x converter for bird shots... this brings back a lot of memories in this section of the forum. I've had Blue Tits (Chickadees) land on the arm of my tripod whilst I sat there motionless against a tree... I knew every bird in the Observers Book of British Birds when I was in Primary school, so much so the teacher thought I was cheating and had a book under my desk. I knew every bird song and could identify the type of nest and colour of eggs.

My most treasured moment as a wee boy of 10 was to stumble upon a Curlews nest in a farmers field - just as the chick was breaking through the shell of the egg. I waited 10 minutes in the reed grass until it broke free... wet and wobbly... it was a great moment to see a new birth.

Thanks for sharing the fruits of your patience in the woods.


Cousin.

I just want to say Romy that I went to your pbase gallery... and don't know quite what to say.

You have a staggering collection of shots that would be quite at home on the front cover of Time magazine. It is obvious that your love for bird photography has grown to professional status.

I particularily enjoyed the section about you, it gives others a better idea of who is behind the lens. Excellent, I am very glad that I popped in to this section this evening, your photos are quite simply stunning.

Incidentally, what is the focal length of the "Sigmonster"? I am a bit out of touch with the huge lenses these days. I guess if you are using the 20D you will be benefitting from the 60% sensor.

El dios bendice.



Yer Cousin.

CousinMadness wrote:
I just want to say Romy that I went to your pbase gallery... and don't know quite what to say.

You have a staggering collection of shots that would be quite at home on the front cover of Time magazine. It is obvious that your love for bird photography has grown to professional status.

I particularily enjoyed the section about you, it gives others a better idea of who is behind the lens. Excellent, I am very glad that I popped in to this section this evening, your photos are quite simply stunning.

Incidentally, what is the focal length of the "Sigmonster"? I am a bit out of touch with the huge lenses these days. I guess if you are using the 20D you will be benefitting from the 60% sensor.

El dios bendice.

Yer Cousin.

Hi Cousin,

Many thanks for the nice words.... they make me feel like I'm doing a good thing...

The Sigmonster is the Sigma 300-800 mm zoom, and I use it to catch Philippine birds (made shy and wary by intense hunting and trapping pressure).

Warmest regards,

Romy

Beautiful colours on a beautiful bird

Dan

Spectacular bird and you've presented him in a wonderful way.