Curl-crested Araçari

[Arthur Grosset]

I photographed this bird some time ago at Cristalino Lodge in Amazonian Brazil.
D60, 100-400mm @ 400mm, f/5.6 1/250 ISO 400 hand-held
It was against a very busy BG so I cropped it a bit and removed some nearby leaves, twigs and branches using Robert O'Toole's Quick Mask Object Removal (which I found much more difficult with this background compared to a seascape). I then applied Gaussian blur to the BG, sharpened the bird slightly and lightened it slightly using curves. I think it is much improved on the original but would appreciate comments.

[Jim Poor]

Really cool looking bird. It could use another round of sharpening I think, but it may be that the focus point isn't on the eye at all. I'm not positive.

Depending on how you feel about such things, you might want to clone some more BG over some of the bright spots to make it a little less distracting.

[Tom Callahan]

I am certainly not in a position to talk about hand held photography, as all my hand helds are throw aways. Thank god for making tripods. This looks a bit soft. Lovely bird and I llike the diaginal perch.

[Arthur Morris]

Agree with Jim on the need for a bit more sharpening of the bird. A really cool species that I had never even heard of. You did pretty well with a very difficult background. The 2nd tree in the background bugs me more than the bright spots.

thanks fo sharing and later and love, artie

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Very nice capture under difficult circumstances and I agree about another round of sharpening, Thanks for sharing.