Resplendent beauty!

Hello guys and gals!

today I´m sharing thi picture of one of the most handsome birds in the new world tropics. The resplendent quetzal.

I made this image recently and as it can be seen the bird has a fruit (aguacatillo, Lauraceae) in its mouth. This fruit is one of their staple foods and this is probably one of the most important seed dispersers of such fruit. They swallow the fruit and regurgitate the seed a few minutes after, thus the seed is ready to germinate.

MarK3
420mm
f/5.6
ISO 400
Hand held
1/250sec.
Almost FF.
LR and PS.

Thanks for your comments in advance!

Beautiful bird Juan and interesting information on the species. A little cluttered in terms of composition and maybe a little too bright in places...but lovely posture especially getting the whole tail in. That's quite a big piece of fruit it has and well done getting an image with it in it's beak

I try not to read previous comments so that I give the image an unbiased opinion. However, I did read Phil's and he has nailed the critique.
I like the comp but would reduce the brightness overall and burn the perch a bit.
Great info you provided on the bird. The seed in the mouth adds to the image.
If you are not anti cloning I would be tempted to get rid of the branch above its head to give the quetzal more breathing room up top.
Gail

I like both of your ideas but I tryed to leave the image as my eyes saw it, of course I do not have a problem about cloning the branch on top of the bird but the BG is not so uniform so it would be a little of a challenge for me! about the bright areas in the image, I could tone them down a tad but as I am saying this represents what my eyes saw and my brain remembers. I tryed to darken the BG but it did not look natural.
Thanks any ways for your unput, it is much appreciated!

Lovely photo Juan Carlos and interesting information. I have an aguacatillo in my yard and have had both Golden-headed and Crested in that tree.

Love it, Juan! I can live with the bright bg spots, that's the way it is sometimes!

The image is lovely, what a beautiful bird and setting. But it does look overexposed -- not just the BG but the whole image. Maybe your monitor is showing it darker than mine, and apparently some of the others?

Beautiful image of beautiful bird.Very nice composition.
Rest is mentioned above.

Regards,
Satish.

Great perch and nice job working in that incredibly long tail into the comp. Perfect head angle and the food
item is a big bonus. You've already received some good feedback regarding possible actions to improve the
image...I don't have much to add beyond that. Gorgeous bird!

A beautiful bird, you have captured it in a lovely way too
i guess the above suggestions are great and will help to take the image over the top

such a wonderful bird you have got! lovey pose with food in the beak & good IQ.
Overall scene looks a bit bright. have tried to tone it down. does it work?

Great shot.
Beautiful bird.
I really like that you captured it with it's meal.
Great perch and I like the repost by Girish.
Well done.

Winner winner winner! Good image Carlos.
I like repost in #11 better, it gives it a bit more punch.

Beautiful bird and a beautiful capture! Well done.

I would have been happy if this was the only image I brought back from your great home town. I was going to suggest an adjustment for some contrast and it has been done. Great setting and the food in the mouth is a bonus!

Many thanks every one for your input! I still like my original post but I also like Girish´s repost, so I feel that I have to rework this image. Will be uploading the repost any time next week since I am leaving for a photo expedition tomorow! wish me luck! take care and have a great weekend.