Usumbara Barbet

[Arthur Morris]

This image of an Usumbara Barbet was created at Seronera, Serengeti on my recent Tanzania Photographic Safari with the hand held (knee-pod technique) Canon 200-400mm w/Internal 1.4X TC (with the internal TC in place at 560mm) and the EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6. One sensor to the left of the central sensor AI Servo/Surround Rear Focus AF.

One advantage of being diabetic is that I have left-overs from dinner for breakfast. When we stop at a picnic area for a box breakfast I am ready to start photographing the birds that come in for crumbs....

The new lens is amazingly versatile. The close focus (MFD is 2 meters or 6.6 feet) is great. The magnification with the internal TC in place is an impressive 0.21X. You can see all Canon telephoto lens specs here. You can see some wide Serengeti plains images made with the 2-4 and learn of my harrowing trip home here.

I have been and will be posting dozens of Galapagos images made with the 2-4 and have begun posting images from the Africa trip made with it. The 2-4 is the only big lens I am taking on my upcoming Bear Boat (sold out) and Dahlia (1 slot left) IPTs. You can visit the blog here and scroll down or hit Postlist/2013 and find a ton of 200-400 images. Or follow the link to the Bulletin Archives. Bulletins 445 & 446 contain 200-400 images. I will be doing a blog post on which big lens (or lenses) to bring on a given trip for the Canon Digital Learning Center Blog here soon. And that will be followed up with a Focus On feature for the DLC website.

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

ps: I think that I forgot to mention that this lens is super sharp.

[John Chardine]

Lovely bird Artie. Super sharp, great soft light. Hard to imagine they are related to woodpeckers!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Super sharp indeed! a very handsome barbet and with excellent details! Exposure is spot on and my only suggestion would be to have more room on bottom since feet are too close to the edge here, then I would crop a tad from top to maintain the 3:2 ratio. They are also related to toucans!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

My bad, now they belong to the Capitonidae family!

[John Chardine]

No hay problema Juan Carlos! They are still related to toucans and woodpeckers!

[Arthur Morris]

JC, Thanks. I am, however, fine with the room below the virtual hind toe :).

[Karl Egressy]

Great looking bird, very nice shot of it.
The pose is very nice.
Great details and colors.
I have never seen this bird posted.
Love the low shooting angle and the neutral background, makes the bird pop.

[Markus Jais]

Great shot of this beautiful bird. Perfect image quality.
I like the head angle, soft light and the background.

Markus

[MohsenVahedipour]

Nice species, Great IQ, light & low shooting angle. TFS

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and sharpness.

[John Chardine]

Just a thought but there is a brown "thingy" very close to the foot which looks like a toe pointing down and to the left. It makes the foot look closer to the bottom of the image than it actually is.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Sharp is an understatement.

[Shawn Zierman]

What a gorgeous bird! First time I've seen one. Image rocks on pretty much every level...perhaps if the bird were looking at your rig (instead of the food?) it might be a touch better. I'm enjoying the soft light and colors of the image quite a bit.

[gail bisson]

Always nice to see a new species.
The IQ and sharpness are excellent. I plan on renting the 200-400 for an upcoming trip and these shots are making me very glad that I have rented it! Of course, operator experience helps!
Another vote for a bit more room below if you have it,
Gail

[dankearl]

Striking looking bird, I can see a bit of woodpecker in him....
Comp and color palette are superb.

[Arthur Morris]

What a gorgeous bird! First time I've seen one. Image rocks on pretty much every level...perhaps if the bird were looking at your rig (instead of the food?) it might be a touch better. I'm enjoying the soft light and colors of the image quite a bit.

If the bird were looking at the food (there was none when I created this image as I few sparingly and then only tiny bits) it would have been looking down not straight ahead. I though though that I had one looking at the camera, but did not. The version here does show a bit more of the breast.

[Robert Kimbrell]

A beautiful bird I have not seen before, I really like the view of the breast area in the second. You sure make that new lens look amazing.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Robert. The new lens is amazing. Lots of stuff on the blog with it and lots more in tomorrow's Bulletin.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose and details. what a unique specie