I went to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat located in Queensland to specifically photograph the Regent Bowerbird. There were both male and female Bowerbirds present but the conditions were very overcast and being early morning, hence the high ISO required to capture the Bowerbird in flight. Fortunately I was using the new Sony A1 which was able to handle the low light conditions, focus tracking and provide sufficient shutter speed to obtain a sharp image of the bird in flight.

I had originally attempted to photograph the birds in flight using my Sony 200-600mm lens but found the physical location meant it was virtually impossible to focus and track the birds due to the trees bordering the area. After a few days of trying to “get the photograph” I decided that maybe the Sony 24 – 105mm lens could be a more suitable equipment selection under the circumstances. This proved to be correct and it allowed me to find, focus and track the birds in flight. It still took another day to perfect the technique to be able to consistently manage to obtain an acceptable photograph of the Regent Bowerbird in flight. Fortunately, I was ultimately able to capture this feeding male Regent Bowerbird in flight with its wings on full display in what I think is an acceptable photograph.

I processed the RAW image in Adobe Lightroom Classic and also used Topaz Denoise to assist in providing the final processed sharp image. The original background of rainforest trees and associated vegetation was acceptable and suitably blurred to provide a good contrast between the bird and background. However, when the latest Lighroom revisions became available it now allowed me to easily convert the background to a solid black colour which provided the striking contrast between the black and yellow of the Regent Bowerbird in flight and the solid black background.

What do you think are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

1. The stark contrast of the black and yellow colours of the Regent Bowerbird against the solid black background.
2. The shape of the bird with its wings displaying the full spectrum of this beautiful bird and the added bonus of it feeding at the time of the photograph.

If you would be able to make this photo once again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or different?

I would have preferred to have been able to take the photograph at a much lower ISO that didn’t require the use of the Topaz Denoise software.

Grahame Rosen shared this photograph in the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Grahame Rosen, Queensland, Australia

Equipment and settings

Sony A1 + Sony 24-105mm lens
1/6400 sec., f/6.3, 105 mm, ISO 20000