Ground Hornbill

Gallery: AvianPosted August 6, 2016265 views7 comments

Botswana

This fellow jumped atop the car of another photographer next to us, so this is almost full frame.
Hornie and his 3 friends were VERY unhappy with their reflections in our car bumper, and pecked the heck out of it, leaving lots of little dents the rental company didn't like at ALL. Or, perhaps, they were after the dead, dried bugs stuck to the bumper?

D800
80-400mm @ 90mm
1/1250 sec, f/7.1
Mode: Av
Metering: Spot
Exp comp: -1/3
ISO: 320
AF mode: AF-C
White balance: AUTO1+2
Flash: Off

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 6, 2016 at 7:50 PM

A really cool portrait, Sandy. i love the detail in the face and the shadows on the eye from the "eyelashes". I do wish it had turned its head enough to keep the whole bill in the focal plane as I think its worthy of a study all on its own. I wonder if it would be possible to use the patch tool and steal the bill detail from another frame?

devil

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

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on August 7, 2016 at 9:25 AM

Sandy: the pose and the coloration of the bird against the muted background make the bird really pop. The detail (especially the shadows created on the eye by the bird's eyelashes) are outstanding. Congrats! Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on August 7, 2016 at 9:37 AM

Great look on this guy. A well-executed image as well.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by Peter J. Morrissey on August 7, 2016 at 3:11 PM

Hi Sandy
The expression on of the Hornbill is price-less. Great shot.
Peter

Registered on July 3, 2011, 188 Posts, 969 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 7, 2016 at 10:06 PM

That's one cool looking bird beautifully captured.
May

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

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on August 8, 2016 at 5:58 PM

Beautiful portrait, Sandy. Excellent job with the exposure on the blacks.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 9, 2016 at 8:46 PM

Nice portrait Sandy. No nits from me, but your large image shows beautifully. However, the smaller image seems like it uses a different color space than what you are using to process, because it shows much flatter. BTW, mine has the same issue

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments