Montezuma Oropendola

[Greg Basco]

Hi, here's one of our more interesting birds down here in Costa Rica, the Montezuma Oropendola. They're related to blackbirds and weaver birds, and they make very cool hanging nests. The bird's face is pretty interesting, so I wanted a super close-up with nice soft portrait-type light that might work for a magazine cover.



Tech: Canon 20D, Canon 300 mm f2.8 L IS, 2x, no flash, f5.6, 1/160, ISO 800, full frame, a bit of noise reduction with Neat Image

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Interesting bird with a vibrant beak. Difficult to manage without burning one of the colours. However, I feel the image appears dark. You may try a crop to remove a little from the bottom and the right. Thanks for sharing.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Beautiful bird and very nice portrait, details and BG. I agree on it being too dark. I only changed the midtone slider but I'm sure it could be further improved using the original.

[Linda Robbins]

This is a lovely portrait. The Oropendolas are such a beautiful and unique group of birds. Lightening the midtones brings out more of the fine detail and color and also separates the bird from the dark bg. Well done,

______________

Linda

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hi Greg!
Details here are outstanding! but I suspect the BG needs noise reduction, may be you get it here because of the dark colors.
I prefer your version. Great job.

[Arthur Morris]

I love the drama of the ORIG post and would likely prefer something between the two for printing. EXP control is fantastic and there is detail in the whites and the darks even in the ORIG. Most mags would want more room all around for headlines and type...

[Ramon M. Casares]

I like both, I think each post is great but with a different aproach... the orig one is excellent and the repost looks very nice but less "creative" if I may...
Congrats!!!

[Ed Cordes]

I like the "mystery" of the first post. Yes, you get better BG separation with the second, but the first is more interesting to my eye. I would like a bit more room on the left.

[Simon Bennett]

Excellent portrait - I really like the detail and the nuances of pastel tones you have captured.

[Aristotle Georgiou]

Fantastic portrait, love the profile and what an interesting looking bird.
Well done!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, and thanks to everyone for your comments. I really was going for a low-key lighting scheme for this rainforest bird because I envisioned a kind of dramatic, creative and (pardon the pretentiousness!) artsy look. Nonetheless, I can see where Axel's repost has some potential in bringing out a bit more detail. I'll probably tweak it a bit as Arthur suggested. And Arthur, thanks for the suggestion on the composition for covers. I won't get so close next time! Ed, I agree about the beak being a bit tight against the left edge of the frame. I suppose I could add a bit of canvas quite easily.

Cheers,
Greg

[Ondrej Prosicky]

Very nice, dark version is better!
I like oropendolas singing :-)
http://www.naturephoto.cz/fotobanka/...montezuma.html

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Greg, YAW. By adding canvas below, left, and above this would be cover material.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Beautiful image. Tack sharp with excellent details. As far as exposure is concerned, personally I liked the original post.