We were in the Tarangire National Park, watching a cheetah being lazy. I spotted this Superb Starling in a tree near us. Even at a distance, I could see his great colors.
Specific Feedback Requested
Please comment on the composition and technical aspects of the shot.
It is cropped significantly now, but should I have cropped more?
Other suggestions?
Technical Details
Nikon D500 with Sigma 100-400 lens
f/6.7, ss1/1000
ISO 126
Cropped to about 30-40% of original size
Processed in Lightroom to brighten and sharpen
What a colorful bird. I can see why it caught your attention.
Specific to your questions: Cropping. I would not crop more. This crop is fine to help put some context in the image. I don’t care for the twig on the right side that is intruding in the frame. Easy clone.
The biggest issue is that the image is just not sharp. There is no detail in the birds plumage. It looks like focus was just not there. Nothing in the image is sharp, the bird or the twig.
Hi Steve
Nice try, never pass up the change to take the shot. Two thing that may help in the further. First try a faster shutter speed and if you can rent a Sigma 150-600mm for trips like this. It always helps to have a longer lens.
Peter
You got a nice pose in an interesting setting. It’s always better to at least try for a shot than regret it later. I suspect the culprit here, in the lack of sharpness, could be thermal mixing in the atmosphere. You don’t need heat for it to happen – surprisingly, it can be a plague even on a cool, still morning. Sunlight warming the ground and rising (or blowing) moist air can cause it. A contributing factor is humidity – tiny moisture droplets. It can be a big problem when shooting out an open window of a vehicle or building, even when the temperature seems to be equalized.
You can often see the effect if you enlarge the image in the viewfinder in live view. Image stabilization can give a somewhat similar effect but on a larger scale.
