Olive-capped Flowerpecker Mt. Kitanglad

[Tonji Ramos]

Another bird you can find on Mt. Kitanglad. Actually there are lots of them flying around. They are tiny birds and they seem to like feeding on fruit. They slice them open then suck up the inside of the fruit.

I was able to take a bunch of pictures and practice using flash in different conditions.

OLIVE CAPPED FLOWERPECKER
Dicaeum nigrilore

I tried an art shot here, with the bokeh, perch,and natural light. It was kinda far so it has a softer look than the other pictures.

Canon 5Dmk2, 500mm, 1.4xtc, 1/200,f6.3 ISO 1000, tripod

This is an immature bird. The flash brought out lots of detail.


Canon 5Dmk2, 500mm, 1/200, f9, ISO200, manual exposure, manual flash, tripod

This bird was eating under the cover of a lot of leaves. I used a little fill because it was so dark under the leaves.


Canon 5Dmk2, 500mm, 1/200, f9, ISO200, manual exposure, manual flash, tripod

This shot is super back lit. So I added a little flash to be able to take a usable photo.


Canon 5Dmk2, 500mm, 1/200, f7.1, ISO160, manual exposure, manual flash, tripod

[Neon Rosell II]

Wow! another rare capture! Might be the first photo for this species!! Excellent use of the flash once again, Tonji!

[tina mallari]

Galing Tonji !!! Always nice to experiment until you find that right combination of settings. I like the natural light more though

[ppaaoolloo]

Impressive use of flash Tonji. The bird did not "red eye"

[mantarey]

Beautiful set Tonj and great handling of the flash.

[William Lim]

Great shots you got there, Tonji.

[gabriel buluran]

Wow!!! Picture 3... Was it drinking from a straw?

[alainpascua]

Very nice pictures, Tonji! The third picture is amazing!

[Ely Teehankee]

I like the third picture best with the sticky fluid oozing from the fruit, is that correct? Well done Tonji. Mabuhay.

[Tonji Ramos]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

Thanks Neon, I doubt if this is a first photo of this species. Its was common and easy to photograph. If you go there you can get a lot of photos of this bird.

Thanks Tina. Yes natural light is the best. But flash just helps you get more photos per day. I keep a flash in my bag all the time now.

Thanks Pao, I think its because he had a red eye already. Hehe.

Thanks Rey, William, Alain, Gabs, and Ely. Regarding the third pic it looks like its having some kind of fruit pasta. The bird slices the fruit open and sucks the fruit inside leaving the skin.

[JV Noriega]

Excellent set on this specie Tonji, and great work on the fill light.. do you set your flash to 50 percent power when using the better beamer? (or even 1/4 power) ... lowering flash output enables the flash unit to recycle faster and do bursts as fast as your camera. you'll just have to adjust iso and aperture settings to achieve the proper exposure. Photo number 2 with the bright back light is the perfect example of a situation where fill light is needed most, great work Tonji!

[Tonji Ramos]

JV, i would use less than 1/4 most of the time even going down to minimum sometimes. Depending on the light and distance.

I really need to improve the flash technique and should work on what I should meter before taking the shot. I just use manual settings all the time. My flash is set at 50mm and its on manual and I do just play with my camera aperture and iso. I took a lot of empty trees and branches to check my settings.

I also need to work on blending the proper shutter speed/ aperture/ISO and flash power to get the BG effect that I want. I want to try melting the BG and getting a more natural feel to the pic.

Ah well, more stuff to confuse me when its time to take the shot.

[Clemn A. Macasiano Jr.]

Wonderful harvest Tonji ... Great control on flash work. Now your encouraging me to use my better beamer ...