An electrical engineer by qualification and a businessman by profession, Hyderabad based Masood Hussain is an extremely passionate bird photographer.
For a man who started bird photography only in 2010, when he bought his first D-SLR – a Nikon D90, Masood has come a long way. He is fascinated by birds due to two reasons – first because they are one of most beautiful creations in Nature. Second, as a person who relishes challenges, he likes the difficulties posed while photographing birds. Watching and learning the behaviour of birds taught him the most important virtue of bird photography – patience.
His images have been accepted in various international photography salons under the patronage of FIAP (International Federation of Photographic Art) and he has recently qualified for AFIAP, their first distinction. His aim is to travel around the world to photograph birds in different countries. A coffee table book on birds is on his list of things to accomplish, and he sincerely believes that the images will influence people to conserve birds by restoring their habitat.
He presently uses a Nikon D300S DSLR with Sigma 150-500MM DG OS HSM, and Nikkor 70-300MM ED VR lenses along with a Manfrotto 680B monopod. Masood’s work can be viewed at : www.flickr.com/hussainsgallery.
Ashok Kandimalla
Challenge behind shooting the favourite picture:
The photograph of the baya weaver (male) approaching its nest is my favourite. This was shot in extremely difficult conditions. The nest was hanging on a dense tree above a water well and there was hardly any light falling on the nest. I had to determine the best possible time when the sunlight would directly fall on the nest through the small gap between the ground and the top of the tree. I came back again at such a time and was still unable to freeze that extremely fast action. The bird was so fast that I was unable to focus it. Also, I wasn’t getting the required shutter speed. I resolved this issue by bumping up the ISO to 2500. Now for focusing, I used manual focus and pre-focused the area where I was anticipating the bird to be. After about a couple of hours of motionless waiting, I finally got what I wanted!
Tech Data of the image:
Camera : Nikon D300s, Lens : Sigma 150-500mm, Exposure Mode : Aperture Priority, Aperture : f 7.1, Shutter speed : 1/4000, Exposure Comp : +0.3 step, ISO : 2500, Metering mode Center weighted, Focal Length : 400mm, Subject Distance : 10m (approx.)
The Green Bee Eater snacks |
 The Green Bee Eater |
 The Kingfisher with its prey |
 The Indian Roller takes off |
 The Indian Peacock in a grand flight |
 Eurasian Hoopoe |
 With the catch of the day |
 The Indian Peacock in a grand flight |
 The Baya Weaver at work |
