Black-Collared Barbet

Gallery: AvianPosted November 5, 2011100 views6 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x Extender @ 700mm, Aperture Priority @ f/8 (1/800 sec), +2/3 EV, ISO 400, Tripod, JPEG from RAW, About 50% of Full Frame

My first introduction to Barbets was over here in Thailand, and I've been fortunate enough to find and photograph a number of species so far. Limited as my knowledge of Southern African birds was before I arrived in SA I had no idea as with whether or not Barbets could also be found on this continent, so when we came across two different and wonderfully colourful species I was delightedly surprised!

The one you see here is a Black-Collared Barbet feeding in a coral tree at one of the camps I was staying at in Kruger National Park.

Set as it is against such a beautifully blue and uniform background, I couldn't help myself from cloning out a few of the more distracting twigs from this frame to clean it up a little, though the temptation to also remove that on piece that appears to be sprouting from the subject's lower back was there, I felt at the time it might add a little more balance, so I kept it in place.

Thoughts, opinions and comments always welcome!

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on November 6, 2011 at 2:18 AM

Beautiful species, well depicted- You managed very well the strong light and the exposure of the reds of this image- I wouldn't clone out anything on this natural view- Great job, Fabio

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

Comment posted by Luca Mussato on November 6, 2011 at 6:06 AM

Honestly i would have remove it because it is a bit distracting but I understand that that's part of the habitat. Unfortunately my eye was firstly attracted by the flower in the FG instead of the bird's head. Personal impression obviously.

Cheers, Luca

Registered on November 14, 2006, 118 Posts, 855 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 6, 2011 at 7:44 PM

Very interesting bird Ashley and the twig coming out of the back is only a minor distraction for me. For my tastes though, the foreground flower is just a bit too dominant, by it's position in front of the bird and its more brilliant color. That said, I know that this image is partly about the attention the bird is giving to the flower so I may have missed the bus on this one. Won't be the first time.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on November 6, 2011 at 7:54 PM

From the thumb, I thought you missed the bird's head, but the larger versions show I was wrong! I like this and agree that the ooof stem out of the back helps add some balance. It's a bit of an awkward view with the flower in front, but I think you presented it as well as possible. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on November 8, 2011 at 8:31 AM

Excellent Ashley, love the reds against the crisp blue sky,

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on November 23, 2011 at 12:41 AM

Many thanks for your thoughts and opinions Fabio, Luca, Ron, Sharon, and Ray :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments