New toys.

[sjl]

I splurged. One only battery grip for the 20D; one only flash (the 580 EX); and the 100-400mm zoom that I've been lusting after for a long time now.

I had a quick play with the 100-400mm; two shots that I think were worth keeping (even if the exposure on one of them was a little bit out).

This one was a pretty decent shot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58114576@N00/204544620/


And this one, although a little underexposed, is still a damn fine shot in my opinion; I really must get hold of Aperture or equivalent and see if I can rescue it:


(NB: Taken in Adobe RGB, so the colours may be out on some displays.)

 

[Xander562]

wow, pretty bird.

all the birds around here are some shade of brown, grey, or black.

 

[dmw007]

wow, pretty bird.

That is a very pretty bird.


Nice pictures sjl!

 

[Chundles]

Rainbow Lorikeet - very common bird around Australia. We have some really pretty birds here, lots of parrots and lorikeets and rosellas and cockatoos.

 

[Buschmaster]

Wow, I've never seen a bird like that! Nice capture with the feeding too!

I'm jealous. My everest are birds and chipmunks.... Someday....

 

[iGary]

See if you can get a Better Beamer for your 580 in Oz:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/better_beamer.shtml

 

[sjl]

See if you can get a Better Beamer for your 580 in Oz:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/better_beamer.shtml

Ooh! Shiny! Thanks for the tip; that one just jumped the queue of "gear to buy".

And yes, as has been stated already, the bird I captured is extremely common in Australia. The tree is a flowering gum, which is a favourite of all sorts of lorikeets and rosellas. It's amazing; the birds camouflage incredibly well in those trees - you have to have a good eye, and a lot of patience, to catch them in a tree with a lot of foliage. I'm lucky: there's one slap bang next door to me, and I've managed to catch a few birds filling a large part of the frame (not as much as I'd like, but still a fair size) using just the 17-85.

The feed is the main reason why I liked the second shot, and why I'm going to try to rescue the exposure. If I can get a similar shot with a good fill flash, though, I probably won't bother. I'm definitely going to have fun with this gear.