Toucan in tree

[Martin Brazil]

Here is a shot of a Toucan gathering berries that I took a few weeks ago.
I was using my Nikon D40x with the Nikon 70-300 zoom at its full reach.
I had the camera on the automatic speed setting too.
What do you think ? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Dubbs5050]

I think the colors on the bird are great. However, the image itself looks flat to me.

[Canuck935]

An interesting image. I like it because it has a bit of a surrealistic look. The bird has great color and contrasts with the subdued background. I'm not sure I like that leaf in front of it's body, but hey you can't control everything.

[Frog]

Not sure but I'm thinking I would try upping the contrast which might help that it does appear flat....probably because everything is so close to being on the same plane and distance.

[Martin Brazil]

It does have a surrealist look to it which was totally unintentional. I have upped the contrast as you suggest Frog and it looks a little better. It was a difficult shot as I was shooting up and could not get it with anything behind other than the sky and the leaf in front of him was unavoidable.
Thanks for the advice.

[Loupey]

The leaves behind the head (especially behind the bill) is too distracting. The pose is not very flattering because it looks like it is trying to flee you.

With wildlife, you have to "hurry up and wait" for the shot to present itself. Sometimes that means holding a camera in an uncomfortable position to your eye for a loooooong time to wait for a fleeting moment to arrive and disappear in an instant. No second chances.

Great effort. Thanks for sharing.

[Martin Brazil]

You're right of course Loupey, the leaves do detract. Shortly after I shot him he flew from the tree but I missed the takeoff which may have been a much better shot. No second chances, how true !

[LeeIs]

Is that real??? oh my god what a beautiful bird!! I love the colours of this shot. although a few things could've been better, for some reason it looks flat. Everything seems to be on the same plain. it lacks the depth and the few leaves in front of it are a little distracting. I still like the image though. I wish the skies were blue that would've popped this image a bit more also.