Bite Me!

[Arthur Morris]

Here, a Chestnut-breasted Coronet is biting the head of a Buff-tailed Coronet. We set up the perch on our set. The birds took to it immediately and were soon figthing over the best spot in order to protect "their feeder."

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens with a 25mm Extension Tube and the Canon EOS-1D MII. Mongoose M 3.5. Six flash set-up. ISO 500. 1/300 sec. at f/18.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Dave Phillips]

incredible dof with that combo...stunning color.
That flash setup has proven quite productive

sorry about clipped wing/tail

[Arthur Morris]

No need to be sorry about the clipped stuff. If I had been wide enough to get both birds totally in the frame we would not be seeing the bite in great detail...

[Shawn Marques]

Hi Artie. Great action in this one and the details/colors captured in the plumage is amazing. Did you add those catchlights?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great interaction and details. Looks a bit painful, though. The catchlights look a bit prominent for my taste.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Artie,
R U sure they aren't having that loving feeling? The lower birds posture has that look........although I must admit........half the time in the animal kingdom.......you can't tell whether they are killing each other or lovin' each other! Agree that you have emphasized the bite.

[Harold Davis]

excellent detail and great action!! does the extension tubes degrade image quality at all. it doesnt seem to, but wondering why you wouldnt just use a shorter lens.

[DanWalters]

Love the interaction between the birds. Great colors and very sharp.

[Arthur Morris]

Did you add those catchlights?

Originally Posted by Axel Hildebrandt http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/fusion/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?p=81195#post81195)
Great interaction and details. Looks a bit painful, though. The catchlights look a bit prominent for my taste.

When working with six flashes you usually have three or four catch lights of varying sizes. In this image, the catch lights were all near the top of the eye so I cloned out all but the largest one in each eye and then moved it lower in the eye. Not sure why they look so prominent but you guys are sharp!

[Arthur Morris]

excellent detail and great action!! does the extension tubes degrade image quality at all. it doesnt seem to, but wondering why you wouldnt just use a shorter lens.

As Extension tubes are hollow they do not degrage image quality at all. When used wide open (certainly not the case here) with a full frame sensor camera, they can cause additional vignetting.

Shorter lenses have wider angles of view. If you use a shorter telephoto you run the risk of losing the background. When traveling we are very limited as to the size of the backgrounds that fit in your suitcase. I believe that the backgrounds for this set-up were 18X24. With a 20X30 or larger background shorter lenses might do well if you were working with one photographer per set-up...

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Artie, R U sure they aren't having that loving feeling?

Different species = no sex (except for some humans and some farmers...) ;)

[Michael Stern]

Here, a Chestnut-breasted Coronet is biting the head of a Buff-tailed Coronet. We set up the perch on our set. The birds took to it immediately and were soon figthing over the best spot in order to protect "their feeder."

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens with a 25mm Extension Tube and the Canon EOS-1D MII. Mongoose M 3.5. Six flash set-up. ISO 500. 1/300 sec. at f/18.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

AMAZING PHOTO! GREAT...AWESOME!
BEST,
MICHAEL

[Noel Carboni]

Lovely pastel colors. Interacting wildlife always make special shots, and this certainly is special.

The only nit I have to pick is that the light coming from below bothers me a bit... Something feels a hair unnatural about it.

-Noel

[Juan Aragonés]

Hi Arthur, nice detail on the interaction of this two little guys and great moment for sure;) I see that you enjoyed a lot your time with the hummingbirds. The catchlight doesn´t work because is placed on an strange position and doesn´t fit to the overall lights source pattern. Here is very difficult, for the human eye, to determine what is the direction of the main light source because you are using a flash setup that produces several light sources. In most of the cases, in the natural world you have just one main light source, the sun, and is easy for the eye to find a correspondence between catchlights and light source. Here is very difficult. IMO the best solution here is to keep one of ther original main catch lights, the one that better fits the frontal light and the shadow, and try to reduce the intensity of the other catchlights, but keeping them. Sometimes, the simpler solution is the best!!!! :)
BTW, regarding your image "Cool pose" I wrote a post explaining the method I used for processing it and I would love to hear your thoughs about it (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11412) :)

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Juan, I am not sure how one determines the correct/natural position. Obviously I am missing something as three of you jumped on these eye highlights! As I said, the highlights in the ORIG were all very high in the eye and looked totally unnatural to me...

Thanks for your reply at Cool Pose. I will get to that one next.

[Jim Poor]

Different species = no sex (except for some humans and some farmers...) ;)

Actually, that's how we end up with hybrids ;)

I had to go back to look at the catchlight since I didn't notice the first time around. I think the only way to get one below the half mid point in the eye 'naturally' would be with sun reflecting off water or snow or some such. But since I didn't notice originally, I can't say that it stands out much.

[Shawn Marques]

Hi Artie. I understand that the original eye glints also looked unnatural, but I am curious to know what the image looked like before you made that change. Would you mind posting it for us... please?:)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

A very nice image captured here, the behavior of these guys is always proving me that they are mean when they have to. The details are fantastic and the BG is a big asset, well, I am used to find this clean BG in most of your images, hope to get good as you some day!

[Freddy Franzella]

Amazing detail, actions captured!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie. I understand that the original eye glints also looked unnatural, but I am curious to know what the image looked like before you made that change. Would you mind posting it for us... please?:)

Hi Shawn, The converted RAW is represented by the image here. A close-up of the upper bird's eye will follow.

[Arthur Morris]

And here is a close-up of the eye of the bird on the top.

[Shawn Marques]

Thanks, Artie. I think I see what the problem may be. When you moved the highlight to the bottom portion of the eye, it covered the subtle light/reflection that gives the eyeballs their rounded shape. That change also removed that same light from the top of the eyeballs. IMO, covering those areas made the eyes look flat and lifeless. I agree with you- there may be too many eye glints, but I certainly believe it would look great if you choose a catchlight or two and leave them in their original positions, while cloning out the selective glints and carefully replacing them with nearby pixels that represent the curvature of the eyeballs.

[Shawn Marques]

Here's my version. Of course, a bit difficult to do such a delicate maneuver with such a small image. ;) Note that the eyes no longer appear to be solid black- they now have come back to life.

[Juan Aragonés]

Looking at the original file, the 5 catchlights are too much for a single eye. I think the suggestion made by Shawn looks much natural

[Arthur Morris]

I have at times been guilty of making the eyes too black (and yes, sometimes lifeless). I have been cutting back on that quite a bit lately but guess that I reverted here... Thanks to all for your helpful comments. It's amazing how much anyone can learn here at BPN!

[Shawn Marques]

My pleasure- glad to have been a help to you! :D

[Bob Ettinger]

Nice action and as usual perfect exposure. Have to like Shawn's repost

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Artie,

After reading every comment, I have to agree with Shawn and his re-post, the catchlight looks much more natural. I also agree with you regarding how much we all can learn!