Common Potoo (Ecuador)

[Glenn Bartley]

I was really excited to find this fellow sitting out on his branch during my second Ecuador Workshop. Although I had seen Potoos on several occasions this was the first time I found one that was in a good setting for photography. Potoos roost completely still during the day so I was able to slap on a 2x converter and manually focus.

These nocturnal birds sure do have a lot of confidence in their camouflage don't they!

Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure compensation: -1/3
ISO: 200
Focal length: 1000mm (500mm + 2x)

[Craig Brelsford]

A potoo on a perch that good is a gift, and you used it well. I'm assuming that you used the teleconverter because you weren't wanting to get too close to the bird. If that's the case, note that in The Life of Birds Attenborough walked right up to one, and the bird in response offered a second pose.

[Randy Stout]

Glenn:

Nice sharpness at that focal length. Interesting perch. The bird almost seems to mold itself around the perch with its tail.

I might consider toning down the BG highlights just a bit to help keep our attention on the bird.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Tucked up nice and cosy, and I like how the tail hangs down on the perch. I do like the multi coloured BG. This guy is very similar to our night-jar.

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

I would have placed the bird a little more to the right instead of in the middle as she looks out of the frame. With the bird looking right at you a central composition would be my preference. Nice integration with the perch.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hey who needs the series 111 converter? This looks pretty darned good to me, I don't mind the central position but I think if ir were slightly off centre it would look a bit better.

[Pieter de Waal]

Amazing image, it took me a few takes to figure out the pose. Agree with toning down the highlights in the BG. TFS.

[James Fuller]

I like the composition as is, bird doesn't look centered to me.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

A very good reason for their confidence too . The bird just looks likes an extension of the perch . Agree with the point of composition , else an awesome catch with the 2X TC on !!