This is Costa Rica's national bird. It is not as attractive as a toucan or quetzal but was chosen because it represents our music, folklore and the humbleness of our people.
As most robins, these guys have a stunning repertoire. The males start to sing around four o'clock in the mornings on the onset of our rainy season (mid-May) they do it to let other males know that that's their territory and to attract females.
Canon 30D
Canon 35-350@350
AV
f/6.3
1/200 sec.
ISO 400
Exp. Comp. +1
Fill flash -2
Tripod
Blind
Almost FF
Very minor PS work
Hi Juan Carlos. The pose is nice, with good eye contact. The point of sharpest focus seems to be on the breast; the eye could stand some additional sharpening. In terms of exposure, the BG is a little bright and competes with the bird IMO. This could easily be fixed in post-processing. If I were trying to do it in camera, I would have gone with closer to a neutral camera exposure and maybe -1 or -1 1/3 EC on the flash.
I actually love the contrast of the bird against the BG. The eye and bill appear more than sharp enough and those were the initial observation points, which my eyes were drawn to when I opened the image.
Be proud of this shot. I most certainly would. There is more than enough detail and the BG/subject contrast works extremely well IMHO. :) Congrats amigo; very well done!!!
Juan Carlos, this is really nice. Love the light on the bird and the composition.
I do agree with Doug that the brighter part of the background, especially on the right side of the frame, does kind of compete. Doug's suggestion for underexposing the background in your ambient exposure and then compensating with a bit more fill-flash on the bird is really good. In addition, this would have given you extra shutter speed, which would have allowed you to stop down to f8 or so to gain a bit more DOF.
I would also note that the strongest part of the background for me is the upper left portion so, though I know you were working in a blind, perhaps positioning yourself or the perch slightly differently would have allowed you to take advantage of that darker foliage.
Having said all of that, this is a really nice image as presented. But since we had the chance to meet and talk the other day, I know you're going for perfection, so we're getting into the details now!
Hi Juan,
I like the bird, BG and the history lesson.The Brazilian national bird a Turdus rufiventris doesn't have fancy colors either but it has a great song.
I like this portrait a lot Juan Carlos. I agree with Doug about the BG, it is a bit light, mainly on the right side of the frame. Love the color of the Bg and the details in the feathers of this guy.
Pura vida!:)
Clay-colored Robin Portrait
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