To get this kind of closeup of a subject that doesn’t allow a close approach, I had to use two extension tubes in conjunction with a telephoto lens. That enabled me to focus on a small portion of the wreathed hornbill’s face. I captured this image in the Bali Bird Park during my last photo tour to Indonesia. Even though this is captivity, it’s still a challenge. Due to the extreme shallow depth of field associated with the significant magnification, I had to make the back of the camera (i.e. the plane of the digital sensor) as parallel as possible to the plane of the bird’s face. Because my lens aperture was large, it was the only way to make sure the image was sharp from edge to edge. The settings were 1/640, f/5.6, and 800 ISO. When shooting birds , I recommend always using a shutter speed faster than you think you’ll need. They can flick their heads so fast that it’s easy to end up with a blurred picture.
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