Ceylon Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger)

21 March 2008

Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad, Kerala, India

This turned out to be the shot of the day. Eldose, my guide asked me to wait near the watchtower inside Thattekad and went into the woods. He came back smiling and said that I was really lucky as there were 3 of them perched together. He says its a bit rare to see 3 of them like this. From L to R -> Adult Male, sub-adult Female and Adult Female.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS on Canon 1D Mark III
ISO 100, 2.5 sec @ f13 Evaluative Metering at -2/3 Stop

Since they were still, used 2.5 secs shutter speed and also increased aperture to f13 to get good DOF. i also shot this in timer mode so that there is no shake when I press the shutter release. When you have time with the birds do experiment with various settings and work on the subject.