Costa Rica Here I Come!

[Doug Brown]

I'm off to Costa Rica for a week with my wife to do a little photography and spend time with Greg Basco and his wife. This will be the first time I've ever been there when I wasn't involved in a workshop. Looking forward to a great week! This Blue-Crowned Motmot was photographed in Greg's front yard; he gets Motmots, and I get Pigeons. It's not fair! The image as presented is almost the entire frame that I captured.

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Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm, f/8, 1/250, ISO 640, manual exposure, fill flash, tripod

[RAM MALLYA]

Simply amazing creature lovely colors excellent BG and perch . I can see you in the eyes of the bird

[Dumay de Boulle]

Great looking bird, love the tail. Very nice detail and color.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Have a safe and fun trip.

Lovely bird, neat perch, sharp.

I might increase the exposure about .25 stop.


Cheers

Randy

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Hey Doug,
Fantastic bird, lovely perch and colors.
What? tripod? ! :)
I'd add just a bit more room all around; especially above and below.
Have a great trip. Looking forward to more...

[Doug Brown]

Hey Doug,
Fantastic bird, lovely perch and colors.
What? tripod? ! :)


Thanks Sidharth! I dust off the tripod when I go to Costa Rica! :w3

[Stu Bowie]

Doug, good DOF, and this species certainly as an array of colours. Comp works so well, and I like the perch too. Enjoy your mini holiday. :w3

[Jonathan Ashton]

Absolutely superb - love the colours and that tail is amazing. Have a great hol - looking forward to seeing your shots - hey you'll get sharp ones with that tripod!!!:bg3::Whoa!::wave:

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely capture of this specimen. Have a ball and hope you bring home lots of keepers.

[Melissa Groo]

What a ridiculously beautiful bird. Can't wait to see your shots when you get back. have a great time and be safe!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very cool! Great colours, and I like the low-light subdued forest feel. Excellent flash work and BG / perch. Just a bit tight in the frame, and even if it is level in-camera I wonder what this would look like wit a bit of CCW rotation.

Have fun, you deserve a break in Costa Rica!! Looking forward to some images...

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image of one of my favourite Costa Rican birds! Have a great time and look forward to seeing the images when you return. I like the pose, perch, IQ and BG. I would like to see a little more room top and bottom.

[Arthur Morris]

Pretty much perfect. Killer perch and BKGR. (Was this a set-up?). Great bird and EXP. Could go a hair lighter..... A bit more room on top would be fine otherwise I love the framing. Lastly I would evict the tiny brown leaf hanging off the vegetation below the primaries. Have a great trip.

[Mital Patel]

indeed beautiful image Doug.

[Jeff Parker]

Awesome. Good background and perch. Great sharpness and flashwork.

[Alan Murphy]

I'm scared to see what you caome back with :-)

Awesomne image. Have a great trip Doug.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Doug, have a good trip. Incredible bird and shot. loved the forest feel...great colors and details.

If I had such birds in the backyard, I'd have never left the home :-)

[Dan Brown]

Sweet shot, Doug! Have a great trip and say hi to Greg and Kristin for me!

[Richard Unsworth]

:S3:

Hi Doug

Superb Motmot

My bags are packed for 3 months in CR leaving UK on 29 Sept -hurrah!

Arenal - Monteverde - Puerto Viejo then perhaps Cano Negra

have fun

[Doug Brown]

Pretty much perfect. Killer perch and BKGR. (Was this a set-up?). Great bird and EXP. Could go a hair lighter..... A bit more room on top would be fine otherwise I love the framing. Lastly I would evict the tiny brown leaf hanging off the vegetation below the primaries. Have a great trip.

Thanks Artie. Here's a repost that incorporates your suggestions. A definite improvement IMO. This version is the full frame.

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[Arthur Morris]

Way to go Doug. Living proof that most great images can be improved. The lighter made a huge difference in impact.

You were so busy working on the image that you missed my question: set-up?

[Doug Brown]

Way to go Doug. Living proof that most great images can be improved. The lighter made a huge difference in impact.
You were so busy working on the image that you missed my question: set-up?

Yes this was a set-up.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Doug. Please remember to let the boys and girls know so that they just don't think that you are lucky. What type of fruit?

[yogesh_puranik]

simply stunning image grt colors perch HA sharpness BG..10/10

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Doug. Please remember to let the boys and girls know so that they just don't think that you are lucky. What type of fruit?

Bananas

[arash_hazeghi]

Awesome I like the extension of the tail. Hope you had a good flight

Looking forward to shooting with you next week.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks. That would have been my guess. Still, a great choice of a perch and a great choice of background.

[Sandesh R.Dhareshwar]

Perfect image for such a beautiful bird i should say Doug
Loved the colours too

[Craig Brelsford]

Doug, have a great trip in Costa Rica. The re-post has more impact for sure. I echo Artie: It's important to disclose that one set up an image.

[Doug Brown]

Doug, have a great trip in Costa Rica. The re-post has more impact for sure. I echo Artie: It's important to disclose that one set up an image.

My apologies Craig. I don't use a lot of set-ups, so it didn't cross my mind to mention it.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Love your repost , Doug !! Awesome colours and lovely bird !!

[Emily Norman]

This has to be one of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen...makes me want to plan a trip to Costa Rica. Your repost is fantastic. Wonderful work!

[Craig Brelsford]

My apologies Craig. I don't use a lot of set-ups, so it didn't cross my mind to mention it.

When I see a great image like yours above, my first question is, "How can I get results like that?" My second question is, "How did HE get that great result?"

[Arthur Morris]

Experienced photographers often know before asking :S3:. That's why I asked. I have long--and I am talking well more than a decade--been a proponent of truth in posting. When I first started asking too many questions many folks thought I should mind my own business. My point was that whatever you do when you to create a posted image is everybody's business. I am sure here that as Doug said that this was just an oversight.