Golden-naped Tanager, Colombia

[Peter Dexter]

Canon 7D w/400 5.6 & 580 EX ll

1/1000
F 10
ISO 640
Flash -1/3

Highlight reduction and burning of bright flower behind bird.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Beautiful bird, nice head turn and details. Good call on f-stop. Composition also very good. I find the bird a bit too flashed for my taste.

[Arthur Morris]

Peter, Do you use NIK Color Efex Pro?

[jack williamson]

Great looking bird, nice look back pose, way too much flash. The bright flowers in the BG distract.

[Marina Scarr]

Gorgeous bird and your composition works well. The bird looks a little over flashed to me, and I think it would look better if the light looked a bit more natural.

[Peter Dexter]

Arthur no I don't have that program. Yes agree with others regarding flash.

[Arthur Morris]

Arthur no I don't have that program. Yes agree with others regarding flash.

Thanks Peter. I am trying to figure out why the bird's feather look so crunchy/over-processed. Flash does not do that.... Otherwise a nice bird, a nice pose and head angle, and a nice composition.

[Faraaz Abdool]

It's my experience that with these tanagers in low light the flash can make them look almost totally different. I can shoot a blue dacnis with flash at -3 and it still looks turquoise. Anyway - nice pose here with this golden-naped, Peter. I'm wondering if you had opened up your aperture a bit if the BG would've looked a little smoother. Still a great shot.

[Arthur Morris]

Tip for photographing brightly colored birds in low light: take the lens off the Better Beamer, put it in your pocket, and lower the diffusion screen on the flash head (if it has one). All at -3 stops of course.

[Faraaz Abdool]

Tip for photographing brightly colored birds in low light: take the lens off the Better Beamer, put it in your pocket, and lower the diffusion screen on the flash head (if it has one). All at -3 stops of course.

I need to figure out a way never to forget this. Perhaps the most relevant tip regarding forest birds I've seen. Thanks Artie! :-)

[Arthur Morris]

You are most welcome Rasta-man.

[Peter Dexter]

To Arthur and others no question there was too much flash on the bird and my efforts to reduce it in pp produced the "crunchy" effect. Fareez yes flash certaianly impacts the color of tropical tanagers, sometimes positively and sometimes not.