Keel-billed Toucan

[Greg Basco]

Hi, I wanted to share an image of one of the big target birds here in Costa Rica. It's hard to get a good look at these guys but I got lucky early one morning. Light was low but nice and soft. The 5D handled the necessary high ISO well, and since I had to shoot wide open to get decent shutter speed I tried wait until he turned pretty much parallel to me.



Tech specs: Canon 5D, Canon 300 mm f2.8L IS, 1.4x TC, tripod/sidekick, f4, 1/125, ISO 1250, AV, evaluative, +1/3, full-frame, noise reduction on BG, standard tweaks in Lightroom

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Arthur Morris]

Love the BKGR, the soft light, the SH, the really cool perch, and of course, the bird. Was this one coming down for fruit? Do they ever?

[Stu Bowie]

Greg, amazing colours on the bill, and overall, well exposed. Interesting perch - is it a type of vine? Killer BG too. Well captured.

[Doug Brown]

A slight curves adjustment gives the image a little more pop. Fantastic otherwise, with a great subject, incredible perch, and clean BG.

[Brian E. Small]

I'm suddenly in the mood for some Froot Loops!

[Bryan Hix]

Great colors, BG, and very interesting perch. I like the adjustments that Doug made too.

[Arthur Morris]

Way wicked repost by Doug; the richer BLAJCKs are the bomb!

[Aidan Briggs]

A great base image, and a great repost by Doug. Love the neat perch, BG, and bird.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great looking bird. Like the comp and bg. The colours is great and exposure spot on.

[Arno Ellmer]

Superb capture of an exceptional bird,Greg ! Doug's adjustments improved it even further . All has been said .
One of my dreams to photograph these and many others in your country !!

[Raymond Barlow]

Excellent image Greg, I am sure looking forward to our tour in November.

[Bill Holsten]

Greg,

Beautiful bird, BG and perch. I agree Doug's repost is even better. This species has a high position on my bucket list. I hope you tethered it to the perch so it will be there in January.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi Greg,
Wonderful colors. I like nice perch & BG. TFS

[Jim Crosswell]

Greg this is a beauty! I like the perch and clean BG.

[Greg Basco]

Thanks to everyone very much for your comments, and I'm so glad that the image meets approval! It was really an exciting experience. I shot this at like 6:00 in the morning (about 1/2 hour after sunset here), and it was the highlight of the day.

Arthur, yes, the bird was coming to feed on a bunch of bananas hung nearby. Stuart, the toucan is perched on a liana, a rainforest vine. Doug, thanks for the repost. I definitely agree that the extra black really makes the image pop. I pushed the histogram as far right as possible on capture to ensure max feather detail, and your post-processing really helped.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Greg, what a shot. Eye-level shots of birds in foliage are so difficult. And you nailed this one on clean BG. Stunning colors and the perch adds a nice 'twist' to this. Excellent stuff.

[Lorant Voros]

Wow and wow. Amazing shot of this amazing bird. Perch is a killer. Hat's off.

[Greg Basco]

Bill, I had him stuffed, and he's right here in my office, so I'll definitely bring him along for the trip.

Ray, thanks for your comments. I'm really looking forward to working with you as well.

Kaustubh and Lorant, thanks so much for the kind comments.

Cheers,
Greg

[Juan Aragonés]

Doug did a good job afjusting the contrast. Reds looks a bit saturated to my taste but, man, this image is just killer Greg. The perch is fantastic and you did a superb job getting this guy with such image quality. It is amazing to see that even the grow bar in the tail feathers are clearly visible. My congratulations for an excelent image :D

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Juan. Thanks so much for your kind words on this image. I will take a look at the reds just to be sure.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Arthur Morris]

I shot this at like 6:00 in the morning (about 1/2 hour after sunset here), and it was the highlight of the day. Arthur, yes, the bird was coming to feed on a bunch of bananas hung nearby.

1: You were in a strange place: 6:00 am being 1/2 hours after sunset really must screw up photography :)

2: Please let folks know when you are working at a feeders or otherwise attracting the subjects to your position. Thanks.

[Greg Basco]

Good point, Arthur. I'll have to check my notes but I'm pretty sure it must have been 1/2 hour after sunrise. Of course, I'm close to the equator so sometimes the toilets swirl backwards, and the toast pops downward so who knows :). Duly noted on the feeders, wasn't trying to keep a secret. I think that's a good policy to disclose when a picture is taken at a feeder or with bait so I thank you for the reminder.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Arthur Morris]

Just teasing Greg. I figgered it was 30 minutes after sunRISE. I have always been an advocate of what I call truth in posting so that folks do not think, "Wow, that guy is lucky. I always see them in the tops of trees!"

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Greg-
A great photo - But surprised no one has mentioned the cyan color cast due to low light levels. A simple color balancing/WP adjustment helps correct the blacks and Bkgd colors. I used the whites in the tail feathers
Hope all is well in CR
Peter

[Arthur Morris]

Peter, It is good to know that you are alive. The repost looks a bit better; not much of a cast is easily evident. Thanks for the effort. How is it going?

[Kiran Poonacha]

All said above take my "WOW" too...

[Arthur Morris]

All said above take my "WOW" too...

Kiran, It is great to see you back. Your smiling face and great images have been missed.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Kiran, It is great to see you back. Your smiling face and great images have been missed.

Glad to be back guruji, I really missed you (I am not kidding)... my work is holding me back, But I am making ways to find time for both.. your kind words have giving my great boost.. I will sacrifice some sleep and be more active :)

[Arthur Morris]

:) That's what I have been doing recently bhia! Great to see you here again.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I had missed this one earlier. Wowie, what poser! Nothing to add but a big congrats on a fine image, Greg:cool:.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Dream image !! The BG , The focus , the vivid colours make this one great image . Special perch too !!!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Daniel and Rakesh. Thanks very much for your kind words on this one. I was really happy to add this to the collection. I had it printed for an exhibition up in the US earlier this year, and it looked quite nice at 30x45". I was pleasantly impressed with ability of the 5D at ISO 1250 to hold up in that large a print.

Peter, thanks very much for your repost. I kind of like the cool look but also liked the warmth in your repost. I think for my master file, I will probably go somewhere between your repost and Doug's.

Cheers,
Greg Basco