This photo was imaged during my trip to South Africa. I love seeing the shadow of their eyelashes in that beautiful red eye. The Gray Hornbill seemed to be one of the most less likely to see of all the Hornbills in SA. Image take from a safari vehicle so I had no control over the camera angle, I wish for a more "eye level" perspective.
Hand Held
Mark IV + 500mmf4
Exposure Time = 1/1250"
F Number = F7.1
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Focal Length = 500mm
Glad you didn't throw this one away. Nice image of a tough bird to get. You made the best of what you had to work with. Wish the tip of the bill was not so soft , but still a very cool image. great comp. and exposure help it alot.
Hornbills are such strong characters, that they make good subjects for sure. I agree about the eyelashes.
I would have traded shutter speed and ISO to get more DOF here. With the sky as BG, you didn't have to worry about that. The bill is so prominent, that it needs to be sharp, as well as the eye.
Great portrait of a not often seen bird.. Agree with the DOF you had no BG distractions to deal with and good SS so you could have stopped down a bit more.... Just wonder if you could increase the color saturation a bit in the sky...
I live in SA and have yet to get a decent shot of these guys, they keep eluding me (though rare as mentioned, even when I spot them they don't sit still for long )
Lovely detail and gotta love that eye and its lashes. I agree on the soft bill, always a challenge as a tilted head angle can product quite a large area that needs to be sharp right through
Hey Chad, super portrait and pose, and I like the detail. Lovely eye too. I too dont have a decent image of one of these guys in my own country. When were you here, and which reserve were you in. ( Ive learnt with these guys to stop down as much as you can, so as to get their bills all in focus. )
Congratulations on shooting a bird that even some of the Africans on this forum have missed. Lack of DOF however really detracts. As close as you probably were, f/14 wouldn't have been an exaggeration, plus you have the camera for running up the ISO.
Thanks for the wonderful comments Guys and Gals I totally agree with more DOF, at the time the bird was moving all over the place its tough to sacrifice SS and risk the chance of blurry photos due to a bird moving, but that is a chance we sometimes need to take and experiment with, next time I will take all the kind consideration into account. I must say though that the OOF beak seems to give more of a 3D looking photos then without this. and I kinda liked that aspect about the photo. I have a few more FF shots of this character and will work on getting another up soon. Thanks again my friends.
Gray Hornbill Portriat
)
When were you here, and which reserve were you in. ( Ive learnt with these guys to stop down as much as you can, so as to get their bills all in focus. )
I totally agree with more DOF, at the time the bird was moving all over the place its tough to sacrifice SS and risk the chance of blurry photos due to a bird moving, but that is a chance we sometimes need to take and experiment with, next time I will take all the kind consideration into account. I must say though that the OOF beak seems to give more of a 3D looking photos then without this. and I kinda liked that aspect about the photo. I have a few more FF shots of this character and will work on getting another up soon. Thanks again my friends.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
