Lucky Feather Photo

Photographer’s Note

I'm fairly sure that this is a feather from a Maccaw. I was hiking in Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon a few years ago, and came across a big pile of feathers that all looked like this, but ranging from 2 feet long to this tiny one of about 5 cms long. My guide thought that it was probably a Jaguar that ate it, as there are not many predators fast enough to kill a bird like a Maccaw.

Technical Detail:
To get the dark background, I shone a bright light at the feather from just inches away in the middle of a dark room. That way, all of the colours are vivid, the camera uses a fast shutter speed because the feather is so bright, and this makes everything else black. I'm not sure if this is standard technique, I just sort of figured it out myself.

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Critiques | Translate

vesalius (857) 2004-09-17 20:03

Hi Mike, great shot. Nice and sharp. Thanks for the technical details, a very neat effect. I really like the lighting. Thanks, Don

alainh (35387) 2004-09-17 23:02

hello mike.
tres belle prise. couleur et textre sont belles. un leger manque de netteté à droite. bon cadrage.
alain

oochappan (22032) 2004-09-18 5:10

Reading your note the colors came out very nice soft and deep. DOF is question of choice I suppose low diafragme.Good assembling framing.

timmiles (0) 2004-10-15 5:24

Very nice macro. Nice and sharp, and I like the dynamic diagonal angle. Narrow DOF was a good choice, as was the black background - well done.

PJE (19527) 2004-11-15 7:42

It seems to me that Photoshop CS used this feather for their logo inside their program. Nice detail on top of the feather. Next time positin the feather at a flatter angle to the whole feather is in focus. Closeups usually have shallow depth of field.