Posts in Category: San Gerardo de Dota
Costa Rica! Not your normal Quetzal shot
Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — I am still trying for my “best” Resplendent Quetzal photo. The light is never good, just after dawn in the shadows of the steep mountain valley on the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, and the distances are just over what we might like…and with the streamer feathers the bird is hard to fit effectively in a frame at any focal length that will capture the feather detail…but still you have to try every time this magnificent bird gives you the chance. And Quetzals in flight? Even harder 🙂 So I am happy with this photo. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 552mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Photo Quality (photo enhance and photo unblur). Another shot at ISO 25600.
Costa Rica! Female Quetzal
Female Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — The female of the Quetzal shows the birds’ membership in the Trogon tribe more clearly…and it is a fairly spectacular bird in its own right. Quetzal photography always strains the limits of whatever camera you use, as the birds are only reliably active before the sun reaches down into the depths of the Savegre valley…and this was a an overcast day after a rainy dawn anyway. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and “photo enhancer & photo unblur”. Taken at ISO 25600. 🙂
Costa Rica! In one end and out the other
Lesser Violet-ear Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Just for a smile. Stuff happens. This Lesser Violet-ear was sipping from a suspended flower and reached the saturation point. This is more common than you might think when hummingbirds drink sugar water. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 570mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Photomator and “photo enhancer and unblur” (great app, terrible title).
Costa Rica! Bird of the day
Lesser Violet-ear Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — It was raining off and on and quite dark when we got to Batsu Gardens high above the Savegre River, but the hummingbirds came to flowers placed for them and doused with sugar water. This is a Lesser Violet-ear (and no, there is no greater violet-ear)…one of the common hummingbirds of the foothills and cloud forest of Central America. This is a natural light shot…not a multi-flash setup. I was very pleased with the results from the OM-1 in the low light we had to work with. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 570mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Bird of the day…
Resplendent Quetzal: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Bird of the day so far. It is not yet noon and we have an afternoon session with hummingbirds. This was before breakfast this morning, still in the deep shade of the mountains to the east. I never get tired of photographing this bird. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Taken at ISO 25600! Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Talamanca Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We will go back to Costa Rica this morning for another shot from the flower set-up at Batsu Gardens when we visited in December. This is a natural light photo in the failing light of an overcast afternoon, but still manages to catch the magic! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Lesser Violetear and Mountain Gem
Lesser Violetear and White-throated Mountain Gem hummingbirds: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Another shot from the flower set up at Batsu Gardens last December. I have lots! This is a Lesser Violetear and a male White-throated Mountain Gem. There were way more Violetears than Mountain Gems. Sony Rx10iv at 493mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Two for the price
Female Volcano and Lesser Violet-ear Hummingbirds: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — As the afternoon went on at Batsu gardens, Marino went out and picked some flowers from the gardens and brought them back to the edge of the upper terrace where he hung them on supports they have for that purpose and sprayed them with sugar water. The hummers came in for photographs! This is one of the first shots I took. That is a female Volcano Hummingbird and a Lesser Violet-ear. Over the next hour and a half, Marino tried different flowers and two different locations and we had a wonderful time photographing the hummers. It is kind of cheating, maybe, but then it looks much more natural than hummers at actual feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 586mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Lesser Violetear Hummingbird
Lesser Violetear Hummingbird, Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Lesser Violetear is certainly the most aggressive of the hummers of the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica and Panama (and in other high and lowlands where they live…it is one of the most widely distributed hummers of Central America). It attempts to dominate any food source, and especially feeders. Males apparently spend much more time guarding than they do feeding. (And no, I always feel compelled to point out, there is no Greater Violetear, or even just plain Violetear to compliment (or to justify) the the Lesser part of its name!) This is the male’s aggressive pose…sometimes the ears are flared even more than this. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Talamanca Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Talamanca Hummingbird used to be the Magnificant Hummingbird with a range from South-East Arizona to Panama…but they split it a few years ago now, into the Rivoli’s and Talamanca…with the birds of Costa Rica and Panama being the Talamancas. It is one of the larger hummingbirds and certainly can dominate the higher elevations of the mountains. It is also one of the most colorful…and in my experience, one of the most likely to flash it gorget and cap. There are always good numbers of them around Batsu Gardens, on the mountainside above Savegre Mountain Resort. Always a treat to see and to photograph. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.