The first time I visited Patagonia, I was surprised at the number and variety of birds, especially tropical-looking species like this austral parrot. In a harsh climactic environment, I didn't expect such a profusion of avian life. I took this shot with a 700mm focal length (500mm f/4 telephoto plus a 1.4x teleconverter), and the settings were 1/320, f/8, and 400 ISO. I hand held the lens, and because of this, the shutter speed was actually too slow to insure sharp pictures. I took this a number of years ago with a Canon 5D Mark II, and at that time noise was still a significant factor when using high ISO settings. I kept the shutter speed relatively slow in exchange for a quality, noise-free image. The general rule for shutter speeds when using long lenses is the shutter should be the reciprocal of the focal length, or faster. In other words, I should have used at least 1/700th to insure a sharp picture. In this instance, I gambled and, fortunately, got a sharp result.
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