Theme: Backlit Ground Hornbill

[Richard Flack]

I had never seen a ground hornbill nest building, nor had I found one of their nest sites until this photograph. This was a real privilege! Unfortunately the sun was almost directly behind the bird when this photograph was taken and the original photographs came out very dark.
Given the special moment, I persevered with some post processing, obviously pumping up the light and playing with shadows and highlights, as well as lightening the eye (also cropped and sharpened for web). Although not perfect, I still have still kept this image as part of my collection.
Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to any thoughts.

Canon 7d Mkii | 400mm f2.8 | ISO 400 | f5.6 | 1/160sec | Exp 0 |

[John Robinson]

Certainly would keep it Richard. A great looking image of , I must say a wierd looking fella ¬ I reckon the back light has made it special in some way.
Good stuff.
Johnb

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Richard, these are great looking 'prehistoric' characters, glad you got so close and I quite like the angle, although...

With such a slow SS I have concerns about 'critical' sharpness, you really want a faster SS, so push the ISO, get out of the old mind set of a low SS. With the subject backlit it may have thrown the metering, you needed to + the EV and metered for the subject and 'recover' the BKG in PP rather than the way you originally processed the image. In addition the head looks angled, with the bill more towards you so, it looks/appears sharper than the eye. IMHO you want it the other way, or if techs allow, greater DoF & SS to have more sharp. With a bit more 'selective' PP you can get more depth, detail & texture from the throat pouch, giving a look of an old worn leather football.

Hopefully Stu B can give some more tips as he has shot these a lot more.
TFS
Steve

[Ritesh Nangare]

WHAT AN BEAUTIFUL IMAGE AND VIBRANT RED COLOUR IS ADDING TOO MUCH TO THE FRAME ....... COLLECTING NESTING MATERIAL IS TRULY UNIQUE.

TFS.

[gail bisson]

Terrific behavior shot.
I have never seen such a photo.
I think your PP is excellent.
The critical focus seems to be on the vegetation so the bill and the eye are out of the DOF slightly.
Steve has given some good advice. I would definitely have shot this at an ISO of 1600 to get more DOF. If you expose to the right noise should not be an issue even with the 7D II.
But IMHO, this behavior shot trumps the minor DOF issues.
Gail

[Richard Flack]

Thanks so much Gail, really appreciate the feedback and for the reasons you mention is exactly why I posted it. It is not often you get to witness this kind of thing. I should have probably mentioned that I had just a few seconds to take this shot, as I had been photographing red-headed quella in strong morning light and surprisingly bumped into this bird on the way home. Hence, my settings were not ready and my ability to get steady limited. Totally agree with you and Steve in this regard, and wish I had had the time to change my settings. All the best. Rich

[annmpacheco]

Super job and thanks for the incredible capture. What an opportunity and I would also be elated to have this one. TFS!

[Kalin Botev]

Hi Richard,
Great capture of one of my favourite birds! Unfortunately the light is always too bright with them. Nevertheless the image is worth keeping.
Kalin