Screeching to a Stop

[GBO25]

I love the way the camera catches a moment in time. This was shot at 1/3200 and I reckon if it had been shot 1/1000 later it would have been a completely different outcome.
These are Rainbow Lorikeets, one of my favourite birds and very common where I live. Unless they've lost their mate they are always in pairs.



Here's a pair obviously in love....



And here's a bit of a clown...

[Shadowman]

Nicely executed.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Air brakes, birds love 'em!
Nice captures, love the colors.

[Stagecoach]

Very good Graham, No 1 for the action but No 2 for the novelty factor.

[IzzieK]

And #3 for the funny look. Makes me smile the last one...

[TonyW]

These are exceptional. We saw a pair these birds near our house this morning but not within photographing distance.

[bnnrcn]

Lovely shots Graham, they are all full of feelings: #1 action, #2 love , #3 curiosity

[GBO25]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

These are exceptional. We saw a pair these birds near our house this morning but not within photographing distance.

I got lucky Tony. For #1 image I was searching out shots at a local lagoon when I spotted this pair coming and going from their nest which is in that hole at the bottom of the left tree trunk. I set the tripod up with a Canon 70-200 f4L lens and took a whole series of images as they came and went. They would land on the branches on the right, look around and then fly into the nest.

These are a couple of them leaving the nest...







The other two images were shot with a 100mm prime macro lens in trees above a feeding station at my brother's place.

[Nicks Pics]

These are really cool! You don't usually see small birds in such a large frame, (birds small in the frame) but in this case I think it works well. Very nice color combinations in these shots. Is it possible I am seeing some strong Jpeg compression in these shots? ( at least the original set) I am curious what quality you saved as?

[Brownbear]

Beautiful images! My favourites is the 5th image (incredible), followed closely by the 4th for the unique framing and moment captured. I'm still trying to figure out how and when so much negative space works.

[ashcroft]

"Damn! I've forgotten how to fly!!!"

Beautiful shots, beautiful birds... and a Canon, so beautiful camera too!

[GBO25]

.........Is it possible I am seeing some strong Jpeg compression in these shots? ( at least the original set) I am curious what quality you saved as?

When I post shots I save them at quality 5 in PS Elements so they upload faster. Also #1 image is a rather extreme crop and also had some adjustments done in Intensify which does have a tendency to introduce artifacts. Every one of these shots has been cropped to some extent and there has been some reasonably aggressive sharpening carried out to get more detail in the birds because they were so small in the frame. Unfortunately 200mm is my largest zoom lens and that tree is quite tall and in the middle of a lake so I couldn't get closer, one tripod leg was in the water as it was. Hence also why there is so much negative space even though cropped.

[FootLoose]

I like the first shot, Graham. Good strong lines framing the subjects, and you have caught them in poses which typify their aggressive nature for me.

[Nicks Pics]

Apparently these photos were of fine quality when shot if they could be significantly cropped and reduced to jpeg quality 5. I thought I was noticing the compression more in lack of detail in places in the tree bark than by artifacts, but I think they are fine given the cropping and compression.