Jewel of Western ghats
While co authoring the Book on Western ghats - I was always fascinated by this characteristic Specis of Western Ghats in India. Even after a lot of struggle and chasing - I could not obtain a decent image of this bird. Noe lately after about 6 yrs of publishing of the book - I could get at least some image of this exotic species. Location - Kerala, India.
Malabar Trogon - Harpactes fasciatus
Canon 40D, 500mm+1.4x, ISO 400, 1/ 500 f5.6, +1/3, Gitzo + Wimberly II head
Focus and eye sharpness is good. Details in blacks are nice.
If mine, I would crop more vertical to accent the tail.
Deb
Woah ! The bird is awesome , light brilliant ! the OOF tree trunk in the BG distracts a bit , a stunner overall !!
Salil, I know how difficult these guys can be. I havent seen many photos of this species with that clean of a background. Exposure, sharpness and colors are excellent. The feel of the rainforest is there. liked that a lot. Vertical comp would have been better IMO.
True Jewel indeed Bhai, I too would be tempted to try a vertical crop, loved the colours and BG here.. congrats..
I know- everyone obviously expects a vertical crop here..and I tried that as well- but it wasn't giving the feel of its habitat and the kind of " exploration" effect - which I experienced while photographing this species in the western ghat Canopy.
So after a lot of thought - I changed the crop from Vertical to a horizontal one.
Absolutely fantastic - I was going to suggest a vertical but I think the horizontal is good - it shows a little habitat.
Was this originally vertical out of the camera?? I too think it would look better as a vert... As is the tail is too close to the edge of the frame. HA could be better, but form the sounds of it this is not a bird that gives you many opportunities! Did you blur the BG in PS (it has a gaussian blur look to it...sorry if I am mistaken)?Originally Posted by saleeltambe
Neat looking species, I love the blue extending from the bill to around the eye. Thanks for sharing this beauty!
Daniel,
Thanks for your inputs. The blur is a mixed effect of 500mm+1.4x at full open aperature. The background is actually a far side hill with trees having yellowish leaves . The bird was near the edge of the first hill and there was quite some empty space beyween the bird and the background hill - the effect is what you see here. I have used selective sharpening on the bird and Noise reduction and selective blurr (but not gausssian) on the BG. Hope this info helps.
Your trip to India is worth it as i could see so many beautiful images from you lovely shot liked the colors very much
Thanks for the additional info!
Wonderful trogon, I also find the blue very attractive. And I am fine with your composition, I only wish the perch was not so prominent.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote