One of the Colombian endemics and a bird that literally came back from the dead due to the conservation effort of one man in Colombia the country.
Location
This image was shot in the Medellin area in a place where these birds are known to live all year round. They are heavily protected by law and one needs special access to reach this area for photography.
Preparing the Scene
The photograph was taken in a nesting tree where a male flew in to a nest that both adults were inspecting. We reached the place around 5 am to wait. In the area, there were many trees and holes. It was quite unpredictable which one, they would go for. But based on our guide’s experience, we decided to wait at one tree that had seen adult birds nest over the last few years. We were well over thirty meters away from the hole and setup the camera on a sturdy tripod.
Composing the Shot:
When I have a scene like this, everything becomes simple. Based on experience it is a smart idea to not chase the bird. Rather, it is better to fix the camera in a way so the bird flies into the frame. How do you do that? Simple— – focus on the nest and wait! Respect the birds and give them space so they feel safe to act naturally. No sudden movements or talking.
I also set my camera to silent mode to avoid the loud shutter firing at fifteen frames per second. Using a vertical frame was a no brainer to get the bird flying into. In situations like this I prefer to show more of the bird and less of the tree.
I was relying on natural light to get the maximum shutter speed possible. Given the distance between me and the bird, there was no way I could use a flash. Even if could, I would have avoided it I was shooting a highly endangered bird species in their natural habitat.
Perfecting in Post Processing:
This is how my image straight out of my camera looked
As always, the first plan is to take care of the raw file and process to get it as close as possible to the final image.
In the camera raw editor, I left the White Balance as shot. I liked how the image turned out in the field. Then added some contrast and reduced brightness for the bird to pop in the frame.
One big challenge was that I was shooting a yellow bird against a yellow background. This meant I had to have enough contrast on the bird to separate it from the background.
Next, I added more color to the overall image by increasing the Vibrance and Saturation. This step lifted the greens and the pinks.
Then, I opened the raw file to edit in photoshop.
Once open I ran one round of Shadow/Highlight by selecting > Image > Adjustments > Shadow Highlights
I added another adjustment layer for more brightness and contrast. Remember, your image is nothing but a digital negative and will need post processing to fix the elements that cannot be achieved in camera.
To give some attention to the, I manually selected and overexposed it a little to get the halo effect on the branch.
The next step was to add a little bit of light to the eye so I manually selected the eye and added 10 points of brightness.
The rest of the image was left untouched, as I wanted to keep the image as natural as possible.
Once this was done my image was ready for resize and sharpness as the last steps. I resized the file to my desired online posting size of 1800 pixels on the longer side. I and then ran smart sharpen at 72% to get my desired file.
The process to convert file to sRGB and saving remains the same as always.
About the Bird
The Yellow-eared Parrot is endangered and is listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. However, its existing populations are increasing due to conservation and most of them can be found in the Andes of Colombia. It loves to occupy humid mountain and elfin forests and its adjacent partially cleared areas and places with wax palms. They depend on the wax palm for its fruit and it is also their nesting and roosting site. They also consume buds, seeds, and fruits of other palm trees and ferns. A breeding pair of Yellow-eared Parrots are assisted by ‘nest helpers’ to rear their chicks.
