IMG_1930
May, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken when visting a nature preserve in the country side of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The guys who administer the preserve have domesticated this Toucan.Time
It was about 4PM after hiking in the park we stopped at the admin station to refill water and supplies.Lighting
Natural mid afternoon light.Equipment
Canon 6D, stock lens, natural light.Inspiration
I find Toucans one of the most exuberant birds in the brazilian fauna. Its appearance is so singular and known all over the world that most people already know how a Toucan looks like. This bird has become a symbol of the tropics. That is what encouraged me to focus on the textures rather than the whole bird. The incredible patterns on his beak, the hypnotizing colors around his eye and those fluffy feathers, I wanted to capture it all. To make the views of this photo to see the textures I was noticing I would need to invite them to look beyond the Toucan on its entirety. That is why I cropped the shot. It is orignally cropped. The humble reflection proposed here is that we can learn so many things when we get passed the preconcieved ideas of what we are looking at... We should never allow the obvious signs, symbols and labels that pops into our minds when we look at the nature to bias our view.Editing
Just regular LR workflow, nothing major. I took this shot already cropped.In my camera bag
Canon 6D, stock lens, a nifty fifty, a Speedlight 550, filters: various ND, polarized, UV. Extra batteries, notebook.Feedback
Toucans are not allowed to be kept captive in Brazil. This exemplar was domesticated by the park personnel. They started offering him papaya and banana for months and he kept coming back for more. It is a free bird, but it allows us to interact. So, to take a similar shot you would need to go deep in the country side of a tropical country and get along with the locals.
