Blue Crowned Motmot - With Repost

Gallery: AvianPosted May 23, 2010258 views15 comments

This is one of the birds that I hoped to get a decent shot of while in Costa Rica. This one was pretty cooperative.

Techs: Canon 50D, 500mm f/4, ISO 400
1/80 @ f/5.6

Larger version included for critiques. Thanks for your thoughts.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 23, 2010 at 7:17 PM

Keith - beautiful bird and very odd tailfeathers!
Nice colors, pose, BG and perch.
Not sure about the bit of moss half cut-off on the right. Maybe include it all or crop it out altohgether?

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 23, 2010 at 7:21 PM

Wow that is some tail. Very pretty colors, not like those we ever see here. I agree with Sandy on the bit of moss, if you have the room and could take a skosh off the right and add it on the left it might be good.

Congrats on a beautiful capture of an exotic bird.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on May 23, 2010 at 7:48 PM

Keith,

I'm headed down to Central America in a few weeks and can't wait to find these birds. Lovely photo but the bokeh is confusing to me.. any reason why it's so blotchy?

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on May 23, 2010 at 8:55 PM

Beautiful bird and a great photo. Couple of little lines under the beak. Not sure what those are. Do agree with getting rid of the moss.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on May 23, 2010 at 10:13 PM

Hi Keith,
Great looking bird with good lighting and clarity. I agree with the other about the moss but that is not really a big issue. What bothers me the most is the background, especially the area above the bird. Not sure what is going on back there, maybe some bad cloning or jpeg compression?
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 23, 2010 at 10:30 PM

Thank you for your feedback. Here's another version with the moss on the right removed. I did a small crop from the right and added a bit of canvas on the left. This was full frame so I didn't have any room to go back and just re-crop. Luke: The background was very close to the bird, so maybe that had some impact the the blotchy background. This version has a bit of surface blur to try to smooth it out. Angela: The two little lines under the beak are actually small feathers. Thanks to all for your comments. I appreciate it.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on May 23, 2010 at 11:09 PM

Hi Keith,
Now that is a background. 1000% better.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on May 23, 2010 at 11:26 PM

Beautiful Keith. What a bird. Can't wait to go to Costa Rica myself. Incredable pastel colors and a matching background. What a tail! Wondefully done Keith.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on May 24, 2010 at 12:06 AM

Beautiful! Repost addresses the issues very well.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on May 24, 2010 at 6:24 AM

Beautiful,,,,,,the repost is much improved.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on May 24, 2010 at 10:27 AM

Lovely image, the repost is my favorite version.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 24, 2010 at 12:15 PM

What an interesting bird, I also like the repost and the color variation on this is amazing, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 24, 2010 at 3:38 PM

Great shot Keith, I prefer the repost more for moving the bird off center than the deletion of the moss.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on May 24, 2010 at 5:41 PM

A striking bird, both in terms of colors and structure (of the tail), beautifully captured. I like the adjustments you made in the repost.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on May 27, 2010 at 4:42 PM

Repost is a beauty, as is the bird.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments