Costa Rica: Keel-Billed Toucan in Flight

[Doug Brown]

Hi everyone. Just got back from an amazing Costa Rica workshop! In particular we got great looks at Keel-Billed and Chestnut-Mandibled Toucans. I've always wanted a flight shot of a Keel-Billed Toucan, and I finally got my opportunity. Flight shots against non-sky backgrounds in Costa Rica are especially challenging because the light is so low. I had to crank up the ISO in order to get a decent shutter speed for this photo. In fact I used ISO 1600 and beyond for quite a few photos; I was really impressed with the Mark IV's noise characteristics. In the states, I rarely push my ISO above 1600, but in Costa Rica I found myself at ISO 6,400 and even 12,800 on several occasions.

Back to this photo. I have a series of frames from this sequence, but this is the only one with wings down. As it happened, the Toucan's nicitating membrane was over the eye in this frame. So I borrowed the eye from a preceding frame. I also blurred the BG slightly. I know the head angle isn't perfect, but I don't care!



Canon 1D Mark IV, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO 3200, manual exposure, hand held

[Marina Scarr]

I don't care about the HA either, Doug. This is an awesome flight shot. The black of the wings look so velvety. You did a great job handling the noise, the BG and the eye exchange. I am sure you are very pleased with this one. I don't think I ever remember seeing one of these in flight.

[Dan Brown]

Hey Welcome back Doug! Awesome image! I can see some noise in the back and neck but the bill, primaries and light neck and face are great. The noise is a fair trade for an amazing capture of this species in low light flight! COOL!:eek:

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Doug, I think HA is fine here...great image. Perfect wing position and wow...those colors really pop.

[Dumay de Boulle]

WOW!!! I think this is fantastic...The bird is beautiful and the sharpness and detail you have are outstanding...Good work on the eye. And the exposure on the wing is spot on, still see some detail but not too light...I have no issues with the BG

[arash_hazeghi]

HA is perfect to me Doug, the best flight shot of this specie I have ever seen!

[Kiran Poonacha]

This is beautiful Doug Bhai, great pose, superb colors, great on the expo and details too.. beautofully done..

[Vivaldo Damilano]

HA is fine IMO, well done on getting this species, it's a really beautiful bird. The colours look great and image really pops nicely TFS

[Michael Stern]

Awesome,
Got to LOVE it!! Beautiful bird in flight!!
Congrats..
Mike

[Johan Kruger]

super capture! very kewl bird

[Nico Steenberg]

All have been said. What a super IMG and bird :eek:

[Giulio Zanni]

Very nice pose! It is quite difficult to get good flight shot of toucans.

Giulio

[Daniel Bailey]

beautiful shot! would look great on the walls of many households! I can't wait until I get a chance to go back to Costa Rica...

[Allen Hirsch]

Fabulous colors - what a great image!

[Troy Lim]

Awesome...what a neat looking bird.

[James Salywoda]

Stunning !!!! Gorgeous image.

[Tom Rambaut]

Wow - those colors!!!

[RAM MALLYA]

Looks like this guy ( or Gal) is flying away after a carnival lovely colors of the bird exposed . Action nicely captured

[Bryan Hix]

Wow, great job Doug. Looks great at that ISO. Congrats on a great flight shot of this species!

[Pieter de Waal]

I agree with all the positives above Doug, what a beautiful bird and well captured. The colours and exposure of the black plumage are superb..

[Richard Unsworth]

Love it Doug

seen so many but only a handful in flight.

now I will have to get one the same somehow

[Ben_Sadd]

Superb image. I had problems getting any usable image with the toucans, let alone one in flight

[Doug Brown]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment!

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Awesome bird , fundoo image . Great BIF shot!!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Doug. The image looks great, and I appreciate the post-processing heads-up. I was really happy that you got this shot. When I scouted that location last December for our workshop, I was thinking that you were going to love it and hoped you would get a toucan in flight. So glad that you did!

I'm also glad you finally got yourself above ISO 800 I remember you doing something similar for me years ago by reminding me that my tele lens can be stopped down further than f2.8 on occasion!

Cheers,
Greg

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Greg! Enjoyed our workshop immensely this year. I appreciate everything you do to make our workshops successful!

[Harshad Barve]

Gorgeous image
TFS

[Doug Brown]

Gorgeous image
TFS

Thanks Harshad!