‚ Birds‚Costa Rican Rainforest

For the Birds

Birds are the predominant wildlife of the rainforest. They are also the most colourful‚ and nosiest inhabitants.

Fiery-billed Aracari & Flower‚ Costa Rica, 2001

Photographed with a Canon EOS D30 and 100~400mm f/5.6L lens @ 400mm1/180 sec @ f/8‚ ISO 200 (+1.5 exposure compensation)

This photograph has turned out to be one of my favourites from the trip. I suppose that it's the strong graphic aspect that appeals‚ something often missing in shots containing foliage.

Technically it was a difficult shot to take because as I was walking the path and encountered the bird the flash unit was nestled in my fanny pack, and I was afraid that the bird would scoot before I could extract it. Since the camera's meter would be reading mostly sky, the toucan would end up as a silhouette and so I quickly dialed in an extra one and a half stops of exposure compensation, letting the sky go white.

Chestnut-mandi...