Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

• Juan Carlos Vindas
• Copyright © 2013 Juan Carlos Vindas
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

In the last days I have been trying, with not much success, to make a picture of this bird. Finally last week I was lucky to take my parther and amigo Don Hamilton to a place where this bird, and many other tanagers are quite common and approachable.

If fact we are seriously considering the fact of taking our groups to this location due to the great photo opportunities.

MK IV+600+1.4TC=840mm@f/8+ISO800+SS1/80sec!+Fill flash M 1/32+Tripod+PS for minor post processing. Full frame. This bird was photographed at a feeder, this is a small guy 5'' so that's why I went with 840mm!:bugeyed:

Comments and critique are always highly appreciated!

 

[Randy Stout]

Juan Carlos:

Striking colors, like the combination of plumage, yellow bill and red eye.

Good flash use.

I know it is full frame, but wish it was just a slightly looser comp.

The lighter green behind the head in the bg really makes the head stand out.

Cheers

Randy

 

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Juan, good details and nice colors. great BG and perch

 

[Loi Nguyen]

Juan, nice colors, lovely perch, good exposure and details. I'd wish for the bird to turn its head just a little bit more towards you. Now he is kind of looking away from you. Also you may want to tone down the white bright spot just above the bird a little bit. Loi

 

[Satish Ranadive]

Juan,
Excellent image of handsome bird. I like the pose with beautiful colors, nice details, HA, red eye and yellow beak stands nicely on superb backdrop.
Great perch and of course composition. Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

 

[Lorant Voros]

I like it a lot. A very nice bird and love the tones of green colors in the picture. Nice us of flash for sure. Looks like you found a 1DMKIV....is the 600mm lens 1st or 2nd generation? Well done.

 

[Evan Cain]

Love the colors and posture in this image. The perch is fantastic also. I don't mind the head angle at all since forest birds spend a lot of time looking up for predators.
I typically don't like the use of flash on birds because of the shadows they create on the feathers if it is too powerful. However, I think you did a fantastic job of minimizing fill so that it didn't create the harsher, flat appearance that flash sometimes creates.
The one small thing that my eye was drawn to was the OOF tail. With a bird that is isolated from the BG as much as this one is, it would be nice to be able to see the whole bird in focus. I think OOF tails are more noticeable when the tail is the closest object, rather than when it is the furthest point on the bird.

 

[PhilCook]

Great perch, stunning color, the backlight through the mossy branch is rather nice. Flash was well handled, maybe a tad bright on the nape of the neck......I think the head angle is excellent as is, very natural

 

[gail bisson]

This is beautiful.
I just love the perch and the BG colors.
Bird is pretty awesome as well. A very colorful image.
I am OK with the pose as well.
My only wish would be for a slightly looser comp but still lovely as is,
Gail

 

[vishaljadhav]

Impressive image, great colours, details and lovely BG
The head turn adds nicely

 

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I like it a lot. A very nice bird and love the tones of green colors in the picture. Nice us of flash for sure. Looks like you found a 1DMKIV....is the 600mm lens 1st or 2nd generation? Well done.

Hello Lorant, this is the first 600 version. Thanks! and yes, I found a very clean MK IV

 

[Stu Bowie]

Hi JC, Im trying to find a name for that striking colour on the honeycreeper - green is not one of them :w3 Love the inquisitive pose, leafy perch, and that BG is sweet. If anything, I would just add space to the bottom.

 

[Karl Egressy]

Striking image, Juan. Nice perch, excellent pose and beauty colors.

 

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm wishing for a looser comp and less shadow on the darker part of the perch, but man what a beautiful bird! I'm OK with the HA here and also OK with the dof (but I understand Evan's reasoning). The use of flash is undetectable, as it should.

 

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I'm wishing for a looser comp and less shadow on the darker part of the perch, but man what a beautiful bird! I'm OK with the HA here and also OK with the dof (but I understand Evan's reasoning). The use of flash is undetectable, as it should.

You are very kind, and thanks for commenting and critiquing my work. I have to say that I learned to used fill flash after I red Arthur´s book the art of bird photography II so kudos to Arthur!

 

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image.

 

[Girish Prahalad]

striking bird you have here. lovely details, perch & BG. great flash work as mentioned above.
only wish you had a bit more DOF.

 

[Shawn Zierman]

Gorgeous bird and killer perch! Love the pose and very nice sharpness given the focal length/shutter speed. If you would have backed off the setup by a like a foot or two, you would have nailed the dof on the tail on this one....ahhh hindsight

 

[dankearl]

Beautiful bird, I like the comp, very nice closeup to show off this guy.

 

[Bill Dix]

Although relatively common in some places, these are indeed striking birds, and this is a striking image. I like the pose, and the backlit perch. I'm wondering if there is a bit of yellow or green cast? I only say that because my only decent image of this species shows him somewhat more blue; but my bird guide describes him as emerald, so yours is probably more accurate. I'll post mine today for comparison.