Here's one of the scarlet macaws at Alligator Farm. The biologists at the center say he's in his 30's and has a biting force of around 600 lbs/ inch. This guy loves to move around like a dancer just to iritate me. One this day I was very patient. I had to wait until he moved to a heavily shadowed BG. All the other angles had compromises.
Canon 5D, EF 500 mm. f/4.0 L, TC 1.4, 12 mm ET, BB and 550 EX flash with my tripod and Wimberley. I added a slight amount of warming with PS. I used D.P.P. 3.5 and PS/CS4 for post processing. Hope I did not overdo the photo filter effect.
Enjoy
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL
That must be a pretty powerful beak, I hope he is not interested in fingers. :) I like the composition and exposure control but would sharpen the bird a tad more.
Like your shot and while it is very good, I have a suggestion for your consideration.
The focus is the area of the eye, which is very sharp. I would suggest adding canvas to the left (see blue area in first iamge) and cropping the bottom slightly (see white line in first image). This will bring the eye into a major focus location, being 1/3 from the top and 1/3 from the right, as well as giving it a larger viewing area to the left. I think it would add to the impact of the shot.
You may also want to darken the black background slightly, as noted by the difference in the black added area and the black background in the second (as modified) image.
Just a suggestion, for a great shot.
Either way I like it. Hope to go there in the next week or two and see what develops! ;)
I like the image but wish that the bird were not so tired.... Good job with EXP ad BKGR and I am fine with the ORIG COMP (but would not mind a bit more room in front).
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Thanks for the kind comments. I wanted more room for the parrot to look into myself but could not get the right angle. I've seen you at AF probably about two years ago. As you know it can be difficult to get a great BG there. That's no excuse so I'll be back soon to get a better portrait of this guy. Never give up is my attitude.
Actually both of us were tired. I tried to whistle to break him out of his stupor. Unfortunately everything I could think of did not work.
That's the way it is at times. So close but oh so far away from a great shot....
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL
Last edited by Charles Wesley; 05-07-2009 at 03:21 PM.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Charles, very nice sharpness on this one, and I like the tight composition. I think you could have backed off on the flash a bit, but overall it's a fine portrait.