Blue-faced Honeyeater

in my Brother's backyard, Bucasia, Mackay, Qld.

View all photos taken: Saturday, 4th July 2009, This photo: 1:54pm

Previous Photo: On Approach

Comments

  • James Lagden said:
    Squawking until it went blue in the face!
  • David de Groot said:
    Better than holding it's breath ;-)
  • suburbanvoodoo said:
    Great shot Dave - how good is the face/eyes/blue? :-)
  • Grauniad2 said:
    Great shot Dave!
  • baar_01 said:
    Nice one Dave. Did you use a flash to get light on it's face?
  • accesser said:
    Love the detail that lens is giving you, Nice find noisy little guys
  • john.dart said:
    Great shot.
  • David de Groot said:
    They definitely stand out :) Interestingly, the young ones have a yellow face and only become blue when they mature.
    Thanks Rodney :)
    I did indeed, dialled back 2/3rds of a stop (from memory).
    Aye, nice and crisp, even wide open :)
    john.dart - Thanks!
  • baar_01 said:
    Ah thought so. I am guessing off camera? How did you get it to sync at 1/320sec? I struggle to get my 5D2 to sync at 1/200 without shutter drag..
  • David de Groot said:
    Nope, on camera in High Speed sync mode, full eTTL metering too in Av on the camera, with the camera set to sync in Auto (C.Fn 1-7 set to 0).
  • baar_01 said:
    Ahh yep. I didn't think a 580 would be able to throw light far enough for 400mm though, hence thinking it was off camera.
  • David de Groot said:
    Well it's fill light rather than main light. The idea is to lessen some of the harsh shadows from the sun. :)
  • looby88 said:
    my face goes red when I hang upside down, I would be a disgrace to a honeyeater.... actually I do eat honey, praps I need to eat more, what do ya reckon ?
    Another "new" bird for me, keep them coming !!
  • David de Groot said:
    hehehe Well what if you hung upside down and held your breath ? Hmmm, no then you'd go purple (red and blue).
    ;-)
    These are fairly common on the eastern seaboard, but I was happy to get some nice close shots of them.
  • maasha said:
    It looks kinda phony with the flash - but I guess it is because I always saw these guys in the shade and behind leaves - and then they are hard to see ...
  • David de Groot said:
    Yeah I would have preferred no flash given the nasty shadows behind, but they were hiding out in the shade and or sometimes in dappled light. I probably could have dropped the flash exposure compensation a bit more I guess.
  • Adam Randell said:
    Love the colour here David. Nice work mate.
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks Adam :)
  • Sri Dhanush said:
    Those colors on the bird look fantastic.. esp the blue!
    --
    Seen in my contacts' photos. ( ?² )
  • fatimka said:
    you have plenty of beautiful birds in Australia...
    "funny named blue-faced honeyeater" has gorgeous colors :)
    great shot as usual..
  • Thea M said:
    Looks wonderful. It looks like he (?) is defending his flower.
  • mlilasic said:
    beautiful colors
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks :)
    Thanks, yes, quite a few of our birds are very pretty and colourful.
    'twas pretty funny really ;-)
    Thanks!
  • Lynda W1 said:
    Cool shot. Looks rather an acrobatic bird.