Orange-breasted Trogon

Gallery: AvianPosted November 25, 2010163 views18 comments

From the 1200m ASL mid-montane region of Malaysia a couple of days ago, this bird landed, of its own accord, on this unusually open perch for my good friend and me. Shooting under the South-east Asian forest and jungle canopy is a photography challenge that is not often found in North America - dark and high ISO (usually 1250 to 3200) conditions, and set-ups are completely out of the question.

1D Mk IV, 700mm, 1/80 @ f8, ISO800, fil-flash @ -2 2/3EV. Laptop processed.

Thanks for looking; C & C please.

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 25, 2010 at 5:56 PM

Sweet shot of this Trogon KC. A bird I am sure I will never see in person. Use of flash looks good here and bird not only landed in the open for you but gave a nice head turn to boot. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on November 25, 2010 at 7:30 PM

Exotic bird and location. What fun! Understated flash really works here. Great job.

Peter

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on November 26, 2010 at 5:50 AM

That does it, I'm taking the 500mm - this is the sort of thing I dream about. Think I'll have to invest in a flash - I've never used one. Lovely shot KC of a lovely bird.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on November 26, 2010 at 7:55 AM

Handsome bird! Great photo! really like the colors, details so sharp, and the BG. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 26, 2010 at 1:57 PM

Excellent capture, especially in the tough conditions. I typically leave the 500 at home for rainforest trips, but it obviously paid off for you. The flash isn't noticeable at all. Well done.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on November 26, 2010 at 3:33 PM

Great looking bird and if you hadn't stated this had been flashed I would never have guessed, it's an excellent piece of photography.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 26, 2010 at 8:48 PM

A gorgeous bird & setting KC, love the pose. You handled the tough conditions very well. Lovely eye contact, sharpness and detail.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 26, 2010 at 10:52 PM

Beautiful, Kwan. Excellent flash use and a great pose.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on November 26, 2010 at 11:26 PM

Typically, the use of flash in such conditions is at a minimum, akin to a gentle stroke of the brush in a painting. I did clone out the tiniest of flash catchlight - apologies for forgetting to mention this in my initial commentary.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 26, 2010 at 11:37 PM

Sweet shot of one my favorite Asian forest birds Kwan, congrats on getting this.

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

Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on November 27, 2010 at 6:56 AM

Great shot of this beautiful bird species, KC! Good to have it at such an open perch. I love those tropical birds. We did see some Trogons in the Pantanal, Brasil as well, but I didn't manage an image good enough to post.

Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 27, 2010 at 4:44 PM

Excellent to find this guy in an open area!
Nice pose to show off the beautiful back.
Sandy

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

Comment posted by May Haga on November 27, 2010 at 7:58 PM

Gorgeous bird beautifully captured KC.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 28, 2010 at 2:28 AM

A Beauty Kwan

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on November 28, 2010 at 9:12 AM

Beautiful species. The blue eye ring really stands out. Only one suggestion would be for a bit more room up top if you have it.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Mason on November 28, 2010 at 12:31 PM

Wonderful image Kwan. Perfect use of fill flash. Excellent DOF too.

Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on December 11, 2010 at 5:31 PM

Great picture- beautiful bird, great colours, details and background- nice job on this, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on December 11, 2010 at 5:57 PM

Excellent pose, eye conatc and use of flash.

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