Hi to all. Here is another toucan closeup, this time the keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus). I was lucky enough to get very close to a toucan at a forest edge up near Costa Rica's border with Nicaragua. I don't expect that I'll ever get the chance to be this close to a wild toucan again (though you never know), so hopefully I made the most of it! I wish I could have used f8, but the light was low and the shutter speed slow enough already that I didn't want to chance it, and I'm not a big fan of ISO 800 on the 20D. Of course, I only had time for one or two shots before he was gone anyway.
Tech: Canon 20D, Canon 300 mm f2.8 L IS, 2x, f5.6, 1/100, ISO 400, AV and -1/3 to keep the background darkish, 550 EX at -2 on the bird, tripod, image is full-frame, a bit of NR on the background with Neat Image
Beautiful image of a beautiful bird Greg. You must have ben excited. I'm not sure if you could work out a bit more details in the black feathers but I would love to have this in my collection.
How lucky for you to get a close encounter with one of these birds in the wild! I don't think the larger aperture hurts this image in the least. I might have gone for a little more fill flash while leaving the -1/3 for the BG exposure. Of course your encounter most likely didn't leave you with time to play around with your camera settings. Congrats!
The intense colors on this are just stunning. Love the detail. I'm with you on ISO 800 on the 20D. I think you made a wise choice and it paid off. Great image.
Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. It was fun to get this opportunity; just wish it came along every day! Juan, I think I agree about the flash catchlight for this one since the eye already has a nice natural reflection. Doug, you're right, I didn't have a lot of time to change settings during this encounter, but I actually did think about the flash. Not that I was able to test, but since it was raining, I was really afraid too much flash might cause reflections on his wet beak. Guess I'll have to go catch this bird and set it up again to see what happens!
Keel-billed Toucan
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