Hi, here's another chestnut-mandibled toucan. This one was taken in late afternoon light, so the colors were intense, and I went pretty aggressive on the exposure to ensure detail in the black feathers. As a result, the highlights are a bit bright but I wanted to preserve the kind of sidelight/backlight, which was my only option for this quick encounter. I used just a touch of flash for a catchlight.
Tech: Canon 20D, Canon 300 mm f2.8 L IS, 1.4x, 550 EX at -3, handheld, f4, 1/100, ISO 200, full-frame
Sure is a nice one Greg! I like the unconventional crop and pose here. I think this photo would benefit from some Shadows/ Highlights work to bring out a little detail in the dark feathers. Also, I would brighten the iris and sharpen the eye a little. Kind of like this. How do you like it?
Simply stunning. The colors, the BKGR, and the bird are all amazing, as it the repost. I would add a bit of canvas in front of the bird and agree with Glenn; had you pointed the camera down just a bit so that the lower breast entered from the corner of the frame I believe that the image would have been a bit stronger. But it is way-strong already!
ps: Super job by Doug with the Eye Doctor bit!
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Cool portrait Greg! And I though I had a big nose....:D. The repost is an improvement of an already great photo but I do agree with the compositional suggestions given.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. Arthur and Glenn, I do agree that having him a bit higher in the frame would improve things. But, he was on a bunch of bananas and, while that is fine because they do regularly come out of the forest to feed on bananas, it just wasn't what I wanted from this rare closeup encounter with a wild toucan. So, I moved him as high in the frame as I could without including the bananas. Maybe next time! I actually do have a vertical from this encounter. Perhaps I'll post it in a few days.
Doug, thanks for the repost. It does look a bit better!
Chestnut-mandibled toucan #2
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