Flamingos

[ajay_the_ace]

Dear All,

These photos have been taken at Sukhana Dam, 25 kms away from Aurangabad. A Few Hundred Flamingos are regular visitors here every year between Oct – Feb. This is my first serious birding attempt. All photos have been cropped only, no PP whatsoever. Some of them have been underexposed by 2/3 stops.

I have used Sigma 70-300 APO DG ( 4.5 – 5.6 ) on Canon 400D. I have experienced Image Quality issue at 300mm @ 5.6 – no critical sharpness. Hence I decided to shoot between 100mm to 300mm and between F6.3 and F8. However, I still feel the clarity and sharpness could have been better. After a lot of effort ( crouching, sliding in mud / thru fields at 6.30 am ) to go near the birds , the results are satisfactory , but could have been much better. Is there any issue with focusing, composing ? Will upgrading ( I am contemplating the new version of Canon 100-400 F4.5-5.6 L IS USM ) help ? Guidance & suggestions from everyone is invited for improvement.

1. The Flock


2. Cris-Cross ( distracting background ) …. Liked the symmetry though….


3. Flamingos with Osprey in Background


4. Testing the Wings


5. The flight 1





6. The Flight 2


7. This entire flock suddenly took off and since I was shooting at 100 mm, could
capture the entire flock


Thanks in advance.

Ajay

[Harshad Barve]

Beautiul images
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SAVE TO SHOOT

[Raghu]

Ajay, Watching Flamngos would have been a great feeling in itself. If we get a good shot with a medium tele, it is a bonus ! I feel some images a bit off-focus and some of them can take a little bif of processing. 100-400 would certainly help because of its reach, IS and of course better optics, but I was told, with bird, you always feel short of focal lenght !
Happy birding
_________________
Raghu
Canon On Manfrotto

[suhas_anand]

ajay the last one is a v dramatic pic..congrats..with ur limited reach uve done quite well...upgrading will indeed help but so would stalking better, wearing camo cloths etc