Brown-hooded Parrot

[Steve Maxson]

I photographed this Brown-hooded Parrot (Pionopsitta haematotis) during my recent trip to Costa Rica with Doug Brown and Greg Bacso. These charismatic birds were common at one of the sites we visited and regularly came to feed on bananas. 1D 4, 500 mm f/4, 1/250, f/7.1, ISO 400, 580EX, better beamer, fill flash at -2 2/3, tripod. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Love the parrot, pose,details and exposure/use of flash very good indeed. The perch is beginning to look a little tired, I would consider touching up the bald areas. The background is clean but very much in my face, maybe desaturate/tone down just a tad??

[Dan Brown]

A beauty, Steve! Really nice portrait, I like the head turn and the sharpness. I agree that the bg is a bit saturated but that may be the way it was. If you desat the bg green, I think the green of the bird would get lost in it, but it's worth a try. I like it as posted though. I know you had a great trip with those guys!

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderful image, the image has good sharpness even with the this shutter speed .
the BG is bright may be tone it down
i am fully a fan of the perch you have got the bird on, its outstanding
lovely bird

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love what looks like walking motion from the subject. A very happy looking bird! All those bright greens are very luscious, but I agree you could tone down the very brightest ones in the BG...but not too much.

[Doug Brown]

Hey Steve. I very much enjoyed getting to know you and your wife in Costa Rica! Your photo is a faithful representation of the bird and BG. I like the striding pose, eye contact, and sharpness. You've achieved a very natural look with your flash work. Nice job!

[Morkel Erasmus]

This just rocks. Lovely vibrance and exposure! :5

[Melissa Groo]

Wow. A real treat for the eyes. Beautiful colors, details, and I love that pose. Perfect head turn towards you.

[Peter Dexter]

Great capture of this bird. Like others I feel the background color is too strong and almost absorbs the colors of the bird.

[Grace Scalzo]

Fantastic! I love the colors, the step, and the great detail. Mostly though, it's just a fun image to enjoy. TFS.

[Greg Basco]

Steve, this looks great. The flash work, as Doug mentioned, is right on for my taste, and I love the rich greens of the palm leaf background. The whole image really says rainforest to me :-)

Cheers,
Greg

[PhilCook]

Loving the sharpness and the quizzical pose, that eye is so clear and sharp...great mossy branch as well, but I really find the very bright green backdrop overpowering the bird itself, a desaturation would be my suggestion

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image.

[vikram potdar]

Very vibrant and colorful image. Loved the greens in this image. the OOF slightly lifted leg gives image a good feel here.