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Fischer's Turaco


Fischer's Turaco
Photo Information
Copyright: Loot Eksteen (loot) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5524 W: 722 N: 4163] (11276)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-02-01
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, Canon 55-200mm EF f/4.5-5.6 II USM, Digital ISO 400, UV 52mm Marumi
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/125 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Birds of the World, The pictures more views, _Fotos adicionadas por 5 ou mais membros II, Animal Portraits II, A study in Ornithology (birds) 1, RARE or SIGNIFICANT contributions to TN 2, Intimate Portraits, 5 favs. and up - PART 4, Lime Greens [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-02-02 14:29
Viewed: 29643
Favorites: 8 [view]
Points: 96
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Fischer's turaco - Tauraco fischeri

A trip to Durban's Umgeni Bird Park is always a memorable experience and you are sure never to go home empty handed. The diversity of birdlife is absolutely astonishing.

This little chap was truly intrigued by the camera. Every time I came close to his aviary he would come and sit right at the fence. He even pushed his claw through the fence to try and get hold of the camera. The moment I stepped away he would fly to the back of his aviary, but just when I thought I saw an opportune moment for a photo and moved closer again he would fly right back to the fence in a flash. I tried to explain to him to move backwards so that I can take a photo, but he didn’t seem to understand Afrikaans (which is my mother tongue). I think he eventually got tired of playing the fool with me. He graciously retired to a branch ± 2.5m away from the fence where he displayed his other talents, i.e. playing the part of a photographic model.

Something I've learned (just maybe there is someone out there who still don’t know this), when taking photos through a fence, the secret is to get the camera lens right up to the wire in order to avoid (or at least reduce) the image of the wire being captured on the photo.

It was a rainy day with dark clouds and bad light.

Description
Fischer's Turaco boasts a distinctive white and black tipped red crest. The red pigmentation also appears dorsal along the nape of the neck. Fischer's Turaco measures approximately 40cm in length, beak to tail, and weighs between 227g and 283g. All turaco species share an adaptation in toe formation. The outer toe of each foot can face either forwards or backwards. When running along branches the toe formation will tend towards two toes forwards and two backwards, increasing the grip.

Distribution
The sub-species Tauraco fischeri zanzibaricus is the only Turaco species to be found outside mainland Africa - living on the offshore island of Zanzibar. Within its distribution, this bird prefers mature woodland and forestry from sea level to 1250m. Their feather structure indicates a tolerance of low temperatures.

Food
It typically feeds on available fruits (especially bananas). One individual was once observed killing (and eating) a small bird, but this is believed to be highly unusual.

Status
Both forms are vulnerable to forest clearance and trapping. The Tauraco fischeri fischeri population is estimated at around 2000 individuals, while there are approximately 50 pairs of Tauraco fischeri zanzibaricus on the island of Zanzibar.

Fischer's Turaco or Tauraco fischeri is listed on the IUCN Red list of threatened species (2004) as "Lower Risk/Near Threatened". According to their last assessment this bird "nearly qualifies for listing as threatened under criteria C1+2a(ii)".

Camera settings
ISO setting – 400
Aperture – f/6.3
Shutter speed – 1/125
Focal length - 150mm

Post Processing was done with ArcSoft Photo Studio 5.5.
hummingbird24, ellis49, pauljk, samos, extramundi, eleana, andante, coasties, peter_stoeckl, marjan, Dee_eS, annagrace, dantor, firelord, Athila, AdrianW, mario-roberto, RAP, Dyker, cicindela, c_rapp, Miss_Piggy, Rehanna, betsie, oscarromulus has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To mario-roberto: Another winnerloot 1 07-10 21:55
To dantor: Bold coloursloot 1 03-04 19:47
To reina: Thanks for all the detailed informationloot 2 02-02 18:02
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • chiliu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1457 W: 0 N: 1176] (6526)
  • [2006-02-02 14:39]

Wow! What a beautiful bird, Loot!
Fantastic shot with excellent sharpness and brilliant colours,
great details and nice framing also.
Thanks for sharing!

Hi Loot,
it's a beautiful bird you have capture.
The colours are lovely. Very good DOF, the birds is well seen from the OOF BG. Good details and POV too.
Very well done.

Hi Loot,
Great capture. Vivid colours of the bird are amazing. Good composition with the bird placed nicely off centre. I think I would clone out the small central catchlight caused by the flash...the eye has more than enough dimension from the ambient light.
TFS
Paul

Hi Loot,
wow, what a beautiful bird, I love the brilliant colours so much. It's so wonderful to see animals here I have never seen before - and also in this good quality, well done and thanks
Sabine - wishnugaruda

  • Great 
  • reina Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 257 W: 1 N: 330] (2032)
  • [2006-02-02 16:40]
  • [+]

Hi Loot, what a beautiful colourful bird you show here. The sharpness of the feathers is amazing. Thanks for your broad information about the shot. Its such a good experience to have contact with these birds, for me thats the great fun of taking pictures. Just really be there in the moment.
Nice to read about this place in durban, I'll look for it in the map.
Your conditions on the photo is also plus information. All together a suburb posting. Thanks for all the detailed information. A joy!
Reina

  • Great 
  • samos Gold Star Critiquer [C: 79 W: 4 N: 2] (39)
  • [2006-02-02 17:11]

Hi Lot this is a very beautiful bird you have capture her wonderful photo sharp very nice warm colours a lot of DOF excellent work Lot thanks regards Stavros

Excellent subject, stunning details and clarity. The BG is very beautiful too. A very good work.
The postprocess looks a bit too "artificial", but of course it is a question of personal taste.
Thanks for this beautiful picture, I had a good time watching, and for the note too. Regards.

  • Great 
  • eleana Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 206 W: 80 N: 75] (2247)
  • [2006-02-02 18:11]

Hello Loot!
Amazing colours, pretty bird, nice composition, by one word - great photo!
TFS and best wishes,
Elena

Hello Loot
What an incredible shot and what a beautiful bird.
Excellent color and sharpness. Good POV and resolution.
Thank you
Regards
JC

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1538 W: 5 N: 2240] (12636)
  • [2006-02-02 18:54]

Fantastique prise,les couleurs sont justes et l,éclairage faits bien ressortir les détails.

Félicitations pour le BG qui s'harmonise bien avec le sujet.

Merci Loot!


joseph

Hello Loot,

Sorry, no time for a decent comment, but definitely worth a ;-)

TFS.

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3089 W: 230 N: 6774] (23770)
  • [2006-02-02 21:00]

Fantastic capture of this unbelievable bird.
The colors are stunning. You captured this beautiful turaco with great clarity and excellent POV. Well done and TFS. : )

That white spark in the eye is magical, it gives such a sense of live to the bird. Great capture!

Hi,

What a beautiful bird potrait, great shot. I the colors , details and composition.

Regards
Goutham R

Very different looking Turaco to the posting i have on my photos, there lovely subjects to photo and not shy at all. Well done on a good close up and getting the details.

Demetrio

Loot,

Excellent detail and clarity shown. The DOF is great and adds to the detail of the subject. Nice colours! TFS, Sheriff

Hi Loot

What a great looking bird. Amazing colours and eye makeup. Good POV and crisp, clear detail. Thanks.

Excellent portrait. Very good colours and detail. DOF is perfect and the background works really well.

Good job and TFS

Excellent picture with a most striking combination of colours and patterns. Perfect pose of the bird. Portrait well set off from a background that adds to the perfect harmony by its colours and its shadows and light. Thank you. Peter

  • Great 
  • marjan Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 459 W: 14 N: 366] (2685)
  • [2006-02-03 14:26]

Hi Loot, tis new one is fantastic. It is first time I see bird like this. Wonderful coloures and funny explanation about your advanture with him ( ora she). TFS

Modern kopje, prachtige foto. De kleuren komen mooi uit tegen de wazige achtergrond. Goed gedaan!

  • Great 
  • tinman Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 242 W: 7 N: 458] (2663)
  • [2006-02-03 15:55]

Lovely colour, good composition. TFS

Wonderful capture, Loot, the colors are spectacular! I really like your POV and the sharpness is great!

Alli

  • Great 
  • wuta Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 855 W: 2 N: 617] (2142)
  • [2006-02-04 9:05]

Hallo Loot ,wat een prachtige vogel wat een mooie kleuren , zo helder ,achtergrond is goed schitterend gedaan .fijn weekend Teunie .

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2234 W: 188 N: 1912] (8073)
  • [2006-02-04 12:37]

Those are quite some colors on this bird, I guess he is not going for camouflage ;-).
Beautiful details great POV.
SkyF

  • Great 
  • radz Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 598 W: 11 N: 72] (436)
  • [2006-02-08 0:29]

How could I miss this shot!!What a lovely capture.Excellent eye contact&good POV.Sharp details.I liked composition,the space infront of this Tauraco.

  • Great 
  • optic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 322 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2006-02-28 7:42]

Hi Loot,
What a beautifull image, very well composed i like the vivid colours & light, dof & pov + sahrpness are great. TFS

Regard,

The bold colours are the only reason for the beauty of the photo. The pose and composition are perfect. The details are as sharp as they should be and the background matches the subject without interfering or looking artificial. This one has to join my favourites.

Your note is most interesting and informative for the photographer as well as the nature lover. Thank you, Loot, for your time and dedication.

  • Great 
  • osse Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 955 W: 0 N: 89] (7805)
  • [2006-03-08 9:00]

Hi Loot.
What a beautiful bird.Excellent sharpness and brilliant colours.
TFS
osse

  • Great 
  • Zeno Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 483 W: 0 N: 1345] (10867)
  • [2006-03-22 14:43]

Hi Loot,

Incredible combination of red and green in this photo. This bird is very impressive.
Great capture.

TFS.
Regards,

Zeno.

  • Great 
  • Athila Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 335 W: 239 N: 493] (1982)
  • [2006-04-09 21:51]

Hi Loot!

Very nice image. Focus and exposure are excellent. Color saturation is remarquable. Shallow DOF created a beautifull blured BG.Composition is excellent leaving more room in front than behind the bird.

Great photo and TFS.

Lovely shot! You've captured this Turaco well, I particularly like the bold colours and exquisite feather detail. Your choice of a relatively wide aperture has thrown the background nicely into bokeh too. However, I find the strange pattern in the background somewhat distracting - I think it's probably an artifact caused by the OOF enclosure, luckily that's correctable in Photoshop if you wish to do so (lasso the bird onto a new layer, create a duplicate layer with just the background, then gaussian blur the background layer). The only other marginal issue is that the back edge of the head is slightly soft - whether that's due to the subject moving, or the relatively shallow DOF is hard to say - but you were already at 400ISO so you didn't really have anywhere to go... I really like the catchlight in the eye too. Very nicely captured, TFS :-D

marvellous colour of contrast
very nice composition
excellent bg
congrats
regards

beautiful portrait, well composed, backgraound and details.

also itt has colours of Italy: green, white and red!

Hallo aan u is Loot

I een bewonderaar van uw foto voor een lange tijd geweest. Hoewel ik mijn eigen camera en materiaal niet heb, vond ik ik moest aan Trek Aard intekenen om krediet aan u en uw het medefotografen posten te geven Ik houd van aard, en benijd mensen als u om dergelijke prachtige photografic vaardigheden en talenten te hebben. Ik word teruggetrokken en reis een, maar zal bezoeken om iedereen af en toe het krediet te geven u verdient Ik heb door het grootste deel van uw Richtlijnen van de Nota gelezen en u kunnen zien door heel wat probleem gaan.
Ik vind de verhalen achter de foto zeer interessant. Ik ben werkelijk aan oud om fotografie als hobby te beginnen, maar kan een goed beeld laten niet me langs overgaan.
Ik probeer altijd om iets in een foto meer te zien dan enkel het voorwerp. Ik heb niet knowlegde aan kritiek als "pro" maar mijn bescheiden appreciatie voor uw (en anderen gelieve behalve het)excellent werk Zoals voor dit beeld van Turaco:What van de Visser een mooi penseel, in de Italiaanse kleuren. Rood, groen en wit. Beek kijkt als het is geschilderd met scarlet emailverf, en gekeken als het is nog nat Het bruin van het oog is zeer slaand. Deze vogel kijkt als het gaat naar een buitensporige kledingspartij gekleed als Rode Indische Worrier.
Dankt u zeer voor het goede werk
Regards
Aaltjie

  • Great 
  • RAP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373] (7405)
  • [2006-10-03 15:46]

Increíble colorido de esta ave, tan bien retratada estimado amigo.
Los pequeños detalles de su plumaje, con gran agudeza y fidelidad, aunque debo decirte que en mi monitor, los rojos aparecen levemente saturados.
Un ajustado DOF que permite un foco exacto y bokeh (término que me enseñó Marhowie) muy adecuado.
Me agrada el encuadre con buen espacio libre hacia donde mira el ave y correcto elección del recorte.
Un gran saludo... Ricardo

Incredible coloring of this bird, so well depicted esteemed friend.
The small details of their plumage, with great sharpness and fidelity, although I should say you that in my monitor, the red ones they appear slightly saturated.
An adjusted DOF that allows an exact focus and very appropriate bokeh (concept that Marhowie taught me).
I like the framing with ample free space toward where he looks at the bird and correct election of the crop.
Best regards... Ricardo

Hello Loot!
What and amazing bird species you presented here! Lovely colours, nice DOF and great portrait! I like it a lot!
Note is also very informative.
TFS and best greetings,
Radomir

VIVID. Ive never seen this species before. Absolutely beautiful.

wow,An excellent bird photo,like it,beautiful,wonderful 7 more nice things to say for this one of your photo's...

E - X - C - L - L -E - N - T

What a beautiful bird gorgeous markings and colors. Beautifully captured pov! TFS
Christan

Nice shot! The brightly coloured bird in front of a washed out background look very attractive. Also sharply focussed and great details. Good work.

Hello Loot

Sjoe, mooi was nog nooit nie lelik nie. Wat 'n beeldskone voël en wat 'n puik foto. Dit kos egter steeds 'n goeie fotograaf om die geleentheid te benut om sodoende die beste uit die model te verkry.

Daar is so baie fyn besonderhede sigbaar op hierdie voël se veredos en die kleure wat jy vasgepen het is absoluut vanuit die boonste rakke. Pragtige werk en geluk met nog 'n stukkie meesters werk.

Groete
Rehanna

Hallo Loot
What a wonderful photo. How beautiful is this Turaco and how perfectly you captured it. The colourful and bright details are truly impressive and the shades of colours and patterns of his plumage are outstanding. The framing and composition are delightful. To me the big brown eye with the red circle around it is a big attraction. Love the blurred background. Excellect presentation and good note as always. Congratulations and thank you very much for sharing.
Love
Anna

Hi Loot
Dit lyk of hierdie "laventenhaan" spesiaal vir jou reggemaak het vir hierdie foto. Nie 'n haar uit sy plek nie. Ongelooflik mooi Loot

great and detailed portrait, TFS Ori

Fantastic shot with excellent sharpness and brilliant colours,

Dear 'friend', Loot,
I realise that you have an almost 'endless' supply of subjects to register in South Africa specially when visiting Umgeni Bird Park; however, what astonishes my person is the QUALITY of the photography you are able to produce.
You do have great equipment, yes, I agree.
IT IS YOUR 'ENDLESS' PATIENCE THAT I ADMIRE.
OUTSTANDING WORK, my friend. Enjoyed your notes too. Educative.
Mario from the COLD.

  • Great 
  • mlines Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 556 W: 26 N: 668] (3116)
  • [2012-09-08 20:19]

Hi Loot, Another wonder of nature. The divesity of the native life you show us in you galleries is a pleaure to view. TFS. Murray

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