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Thread: Scarlet Macaw

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Default Scarlet Macaw

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    Just returned from a fantastic 12 day adventure to Cost Rica with good friends Glenn Conlan and Doug Brown. We met Costa Rica local photographer Greg Basco and headed out for a multitude of killer avian photography throughout many different parts of the country.
    Sweating our butts off in the tropical forest one day, to freezing or butts off in the high altitude cloud forest the next. A country of extremes and truly a birders paradise.
    One of the top shots I wanted to get was beautiful wild Macaws in flight. We had one great afternoon shooting Macaws and I wound up getting some nice flight frames of this stunning species. To see these giant, ultra colorful wild birds in flight, was one of the highlights of my entire birding life.
    Seeing 5-6 of these guys banking in front of you with the nice green forest background behind them was one of the most awesome sights ever. Their colors are so striking and vivid, especially in flight.
    As you can see by the techs, the shooting conditions were definitely challenging in the jungle. Pretty much wide open most of the time with as high of ISO as you are comfortable with and as much shutter speed as you can get to successfully stop the action. A give and take balancing act the whole time.
    Here is a beautiful Scarlet Macaw in flight.

    1DXII---600mm---f4.0---ss1/1250th---ISO2000---Hand held@3:15pm---30% crop

    Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

    David
    Last edited by David Salem; 02-20-2018 at 04:02 AM.
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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    One of the best shots of this birds I have ever seen buddy, tack sharp and a nice BG too
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  3. #3
    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Default 1200dpi

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    Thanks Arash! Glad you like it. I was prepping a smaller version while you were posting.
    Looking at these images now, it's really amazing at how much detail is lost at the smaller 1200px posting size.
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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    yeah 1200px looks like sh** compared to the large image . Glad you had a good trip. looking forward to more images. wish I was there too
    Last edited by arash_hazeghi; 02-20-2018 at 04:15 AM.
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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Ya we had a great trip and you would have had a great time with us! Next time
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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Cool image David, love the colours and overall colour palette.


    Pretty much wide open most of the time with as high of ISO as you are comfortable with
    David ISO2000 isn't high at all, but guess it is compared to your usual ISO, come to the UK and try 6400, 8000 plus, but the MKII can handle it no problem. Looks like you had a good time, hope to see more.

    TFS
    Steve

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    BPN Member Tim Foltz's Avatar
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    Dave, nice image even at 1200 even though some arrogantly state otherwise.
    Beautiful colors, sweet details, nice eye contact and BG. Glad you guys are back safe.

    -Tim

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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    Welcome back Dave! You have described the CR shooting difficulties perfectly! Always shooting at high ISO etc. I know how you hate hooting above ISO 640 so it must have been hard to wrap your head around these high numbers!!
    Come to Nova Scotia where I never shoot less than ISO 800!
    This is a terrific flight shot.
    Colors are spot on and IQ rocks. Great BG and POV.
    Love the HA.
    No nits from me,
    Gail

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Come to Nova Scotia where I never shoot less than ISO 800!
    I would relish the moment Gail, I'll swing by tonight as I fly over, or should I say early afternoon your timer as I head to the West coat of Canada for three week Skiing.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    A stunning shot, David. No nits. Yes, Costa Rica is a bird photographer's paradise and I would love to go back, if for no other reason to capture one of these guys. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Looking forward to more.

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    Rockstar Alert!!! the best, the end! Wowsa Dave, perfecto! and the head turn, gorgeous, wonderful trip looking forward to more

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    A real beauty David! Glad to see you made it down to CR. Looking forward to seeing more pics from your trip.

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    David - great shot especially under such challenging conditions. That bird is gorgeous. I like the way the soft green and brown BG contrasts with the bright reds, yellows, and blues of the subject. The shot looks super tack sharp on the eye. Love it. Glad you got to enjoy such an amazing trip. Thanks for sharing the story and image.

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Really enjoyed having you and Glenn on the workshop, Dave! I knew this was at the top of your list of images you wanted to get, and I'm happy that you got such a quality frame! Can't wait to see more of your images from the trip!
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    Rock star one here Dave. Classic shot of one of the beauties. I have seen them coming and going from nests and also spent time at clay licks in Peru with hundreds of them. They are just one of those birds that seeing in their natural environment is something you have to experience. Smaller image is not nearly as good as we have discussed. So full center zone or 9 point surround for this?

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Spot on Dave, you have to love not when you get your target shot! Beautiful soft light, great pose and pin sharp, whats not to like?

    Mike

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    Beautiful image David. Love the colors, detail, and BG. Looks like you had a great trip.

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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Brown View Post
    Really enjoyed having you and Glenn on the workshop, Dave! I knew this was at the top of your list of images you wanted to get, and I'm happy that you got such a quality frame! Can't wait to see more of your images from the trip!

    Thanks so much Doug, we had the time of our lives!!
    Also if anybody is ever intrested in going to Costa Rica I would highly suggest looking Doug up.
    His workshop itinerary, knowledge, and skills are some of best out there!!
    Thanks again and I'll be posting more images from our fantastic trip soon.
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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Thanks for the nice comments everyone, I'm really glad you like the image.
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    Lifetime Member David Salem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Isaac Grant View Post
    Rock star one here Dave. Classic shot of one of the beauties. I have seen them coming and going from nests and also spent time at clay licks in Peru with hundreds of them. They are just one of those birds that seeing in their natural environment is something you have to experience. Smaller image is not nearly as good as we have discussed. So full center zone or 9 point surround for this?
    Thanks Isaac,

    I started off using 9 point expansion but after a few minutes I change to full zone and had better luck locking on to these guys. Even though they're pretty big birds the camera still had a little bit of trouble locking onto these guys with a forest background. Another challenge was that it started raining and became fairly overcast early in our shoot so I had to open up the aperture wide open which gave me a fairly limited depth of field for these big birds. I locked on to lots of great frames but the bummer was that at F4 and F 4.5 sometimes the wing was Sharp and the head wasn't and vice versa so I had to toss quite a few images that were just not quite there. The good thing is that I got quite a few that were awesome too so it's a give-and-take kind of deal.
    Thanks again
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    BPN Member William Dickson's Avatar
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    Now that is what I call a riot of colours. Beautiful looking frame. Lovely detail on the bird and i love that HA.

    Great work

    Will

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    That is great info for all Dave. If you light was better or the birds a bit farther back then you could have of course gone to a higher fstop and had less of a problem with the depth of field. But considering your conditions and the limitations that makes this one even better.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Dave, striking colours shown off here with the Macaw on full flight. Take sharp, excellent detail on the face, and I like the head turn too. I wouldnt complain about your BG either. Very well captured.

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