A male Resplendent Quetzal taken before the sun hit the shade on a rarely found open perch about 10 m from my shooting location. Very lucky I guess. This is actually a manually blended 2 image (top and bottom) composite. I was actually too close even in vertical orientation to get the bird and the tail feathers in one image. Light was very low and required an iso-of 5000, no flash allowed at the shooting location. That’s a tiny avocado in its mouth. This is what it feeds to its young. The nest was about 75 m from this location in a hole in a tree. The bird was hanging out in the nest with its long tail feathers hanging out, came out of the nest and flew to this location within 15 seconds or less.
This is the national bird of Guatemala. The national bird of Costa Rica is a considerably less gaudy Clay -colored Thrush. The Quetzal is probably one of the number one target birds for eco-tours in Costa Rica. It is a member of the Trogon family. There were at least six or seven large groups in the area photographing this bird. This scene reminded me of combat fishing on some of the rivers in Alaska.
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Pertinent technical details or techniques:
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Iso-5000, AFS 500 mm 5.6 VR PF, F5 .6, 500th, handheld, two full frame images manually blended, D 500, no flash, DxO Photo Lab, Adobe Camera Raw 11.2, Topaz AI Clear, Topaz Adjust, TK sharpening action at 1%.
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Simply amazing, David. This bird is in itself already a treat, but your image and composition bring it to the next level. Well done - love it ! Cheers, Hans
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I can’t describe my level of jealousy! Spectacular bird, perch, and background. Composite looks excellent. My only critique is that I wish I would have been standing beside you!
Spectacular bird and excellent processing to combine the 2 images. Exquisite colours, and even a goody in it’s mouth.
Mabe just my cooked eyes, but seems to need a slight CW rotation to level the bird.
Fantastic wall-hanger image!
Sandy
Excellent. Well composed, good detail and color, good pose, and something in the mouth as a bonus. Lucky you.
Excellent detail and pose David. Getting him with the aquacate in his beak is a treat. Your blending and post worked beautifully. I can’t believe how close this guy came to us.
I had to come back to this. I hope you have this on order with a print shop!
David: the bird is truly resplendent and posed perfectly against the muted background. Make space on your wall for this one. Congrats!! Richard
Quick thinking and an excellent job on the merge, David. I love the glowing look to the re on the breast. An excellent image. No nits from me.
Hi David, really terrific. A gorgeous bird very well captured. Love how the tail extends in the same direction of the bird’s gaze. No nits here.
