White-necked jacobin pollinating Calathea

[Greg Basco]

Hi to all. I had wanted an image of a male white-necked jacobin pollinating a Calathea (a native plant in the Marantaceae family that populates light gaps in the forest here) flower for quite a while and think I finally pulled it off. I set up the lighting to give a bit of shadow and texture for a natural, non-flashed look -- hopefully I succeeded. This is a tough bird to expose with the white belly but I was happy to get good detail in both the blue head and the whites. I appreciate any comments and/or suggestions.



Tech info: Canon 5D, Tokina 80-200 f2.8 lens, three Canon 430 EX Speedlites, one Canon 550 EX Speedlite, f16, 1/200, ISO 320, tripod, cable release. Full-frame, only post-processing was a bit of NR on the BG in Neat Image, a few added points of vibrance and saturation in Lightroom, and cloning of one catchlight in the eye in PS.

Cheers from Costa Rica,
Greg Basco

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Toda una maravilla Greg!

Wonderful presentation of this flying jewel. Love the wings up and the combination of colors.

Saludos desde San Jose.

[Dan Brown]

Hi Greg. Nice shot of course! I really like the green on the bird! What white balance did you use here? One thing that you might consider doing here is lightening the eye area a bit, as it's in a shadow.

[Keith Bauer]

Hi Greg: I like this very much. Your exposure looks excellent to me. Every part of the image has detail. The yellow flower is also exposed very well. Great wing position (I'm sure you planned that!!) Very nice. Brings back some great memories.

[Octavio Campos Salles]

Excellent shot Greg, I like the textures a lot.

[Stu Bowie]

I just love the way you guys set up this flash sync to freeze the hovering motion. Brilliant exposure and colours, and pin sharp. I wouldnt change a thing in this. Congrats on an outstanding image Greg.