My Dream Sunbird :^)

Gallery: AvianPosted June 13, 2011148 views17 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x TC @ 700mm, Aperture Priority @ f/8 (1/320 sec), -1/3 EV, ISO 640, Tripod, JPEG from RAW, Cropped 30% from Full Frame

Subject: Crimson Sunbird

Location: Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Situation: Ever since the flames of my passion for birds were ignited by the first Sunbird I saw through my 100-400 zoom in the neighbour's garden, I've had a particularly intense love for all species of Sunbird.

While I've been extremely fortunate in having numerous opportunities to photograph two wonderful kinds of Sunbird close to my home (the Olive-Backed and the Brown-Throated, neither of these names doing any justice at all to the stunningly beautiful iridescent colours that the males of these respective species display in the right light), the only other species I've managed to capture a few shots of here in Thailand is the Purple-Throated Sunbird, though it was too high up in a tree to score anything more than pictures for reference, if you know what I mean!

Having looked at illustrations of others in my field guide to Birds of Southeast Asia, I quickly added several more to my sightings “Wish List” and, of these, the one I dreamt about and prayed hardest for to see and photograph was this beauty I'm posting up today: the Crimson Sunbird.

On this trip I actually came across this species not just once, but on three different occasions and, although the first encounter didn't result in the best of images, I was thoroughly delighted to at last have a few shots in the bag to add to my collection, and I was already more than happy with that. On the second opportunity my subject was perched on lower hanging branches, which helped me get even better shots.

Then, on the very same afternoon, we climbed a bit of a hill and, while stopping for a breather, we spotted this guy! I'm still not sure whether he was getting nectar from the tiny white flowers or in search of even smaller insects and bugs, but he was so intent on whatever he was doing that I was able to get relatively close and, for about an hour, managed to get the best shots so far of this stunning bird. This is one of my favourites of that series, hope you like it too :^)

Critique and comments always welcome :^)

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 13, 2011 at 11:41 PM

Ashley, a stuning image! I think you have captured the beauty of this colorful bird very well. I like the pose, comp, and colors. You have handled the BG well, it really sets the bird off. If anything could improve this photo it might be reducing or cloning out the green foliage which runs across the upper right hand corner, but I am not sure it is even a distraction. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 14, 2011 at 1:22 AM

Ashley, congratulations on finding the bird you coveted, excellent photo. Well balanced composition and nice mix of bird and habitat. Picture perfect pose and head turn! The light is maybe slightly contrasty but in keeping with a "sun" bird.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on June 14, 2011 at 1:56 AM

Congratulations on an outstanding bird and an outstanding photo. There are some species of birds that make your eyes water when you see them through binoculars: Tanagers, for example. I'll have to add Crimson Sunbird to the list.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on June 14, 2011 at 2:17 AM

Hi Ashley! Been away for a while so I'll have to peruse your gallery of recent posts for more of the usual inspiration from you, but I must say this one certainly popped off the page! It's SOOO cool when you finally get rewarded with a species you've been hunting for a while, and even though I always want to find whatever my taret is as quickly as possible and in perfect light and an incredibly cooperative individual of course, it does seem that the more time and effort it takes before receiving the reward makes the experience all the richer when it happens. Congrats on this experience and a fine capture.

I'm viewing this on a cheap laptop, so my appraisal of the image qualities is handicapped to say the least, but I did wonder if the reds were just a bit oversaturated. I read a tip on photographing North American cardinals suggesting a 0.7EV underexposure or so to keep the red channel from losing detail and getting too hot. I have yet to aim my lens at a cardinal (pretty rare in southern Alberta to say the least) but I wonder if this approach might help make the feather detail pop even more the next time you hang out with a Sunbird.

Nicely done!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on June 14, 2011 at 3:51 AM

Fabulous bird well captured.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on June 14, 2011 at 7:03 AM

Great job with the reds Ashley - what a stunning looking bird

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on June 14, 2011 at 9:37 AM

What a great looking bird !
Good one !
JohnR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 14, 2011 at 9:50 AM

Gorgeous bird and well photographed, Ashley. My only nit is that the red seems oversaturated in a couple of places. You might try desaturating it a trifle to see how it looks. Unfortunately, some birds have the colors saturated for our equipment and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it without making them look artificially dull.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on June 14, 2011 at 10:01 AM

Congrats on another capture of a species you have been hunting down! I like the natural settings on this one, the space, pose and details...except, looks like you are loosing some details on the reds...especially in the neck area. Might be from saturation, might be a bit hot on the reds....looks like you might have had harsh light to deal with.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 14, 2011 at 10:23 PM

Many thanks for your comments, observations and suggestions John T, Gary, Jim, John L, Simon, Rob, John R, Dennis, and Kurt, much appreciated :^)

When I got back home and saw all the photos I took of this subject, I also thought the red appeared be be a little over-saturated, so I tried to decrease it a bit but, as Dennis suggested, there's a very fine line between how you see it here now and the point where it becomes artificially dull. For my taste it's better to have the reds a tad over-saturated rather than under, hence the reason why I chose to keep it this way.

One other point: While developing all my Crimson Sunbird images I noticed that the red feathers running from it's chin (I doubt "chin" is the correct ornithological term, but I guess you'll know what I mean!) down through it's chest appear to be of much finer hairs and almost matted together to the point where it's very difficult to discern detail between them, whereas, the hairs of the feathers on most other parts are much coarser in texture and spread further apart, giving all the shots I caught in focus far greater detail.

Although I tried some extra selective sharpening on the neck and chest feathers, it didn't seem to make much difference at all, and of course I didn't want to push it to the point where it became all too obvious I'd worked it so much.

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 14, 2011 at 11:57 PM

A gorgeous bird in a great setting

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on June 15, 2011 at 12:30 AM

I can certainly see how this bird would set off your fashion for birds. Lovely colors and the habitat adds a lot of pizzaz. I think the reds are just a bit over saturated and the bird may be over sharpened.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on June 15, 2011 at 7:12 AM

Very nice Ashley, no nits from me.
Great comp/setting, beautiful colors and sharp detail..
This bird "pops"

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on June 15, 2011 at 9:17 AM

Another beautiful jungle jewel, Ashley. Well done. I think that what Kurt is pointing out is that the reds are a bit blown, not oversaturated. The loss of detail under the chin could've been avoided with some -ev. Still a real winner.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on June 16, 2011 at 1:05 AM

Many thanks for your kind words and comments Nate, Angela, Howard, and Charlie :^)

Thanks for the further clarification and for the helpful suggestion of using -EV in the future for a similar situation.