Dr Isaac Vaisman, APSA, PPSA
October 2025 - Male Quetzal Portrait
About the Image(s)
This image of a male quetzal is a follow up to Doug last month image. It was created also in Costa Rica at the same farm where the miniature avocados tree is preserved by a farmer and he charges a fee to come in and photograph them. We also waited for a long time but the birds were comfortable sitting on the tree under the branches, They never took off while we were there. It is also important to mention that it is quite a steep hike to get up there.
Used a Nikon Z7ii with the Nikkor Z lens 800mm f/6.3 and these settings: ISO 1600, f/8 and 1/640 sec
3 comments posted
Wow. Great close up of the quetzal. Nice to hear that you also visited the same site. I see that you used an 800 mm lens. The tree was some distance away from the viewing site. I am sure you had to crop this in a lot. Yes it was a bit of a hike up to the site. I have recently had a knee replaced (40 years of ski patrol on Mt Hood). It would be less painful now. Neither of our images show his magnificent tail feathers. I imagine you also have wider shots showing his beautiful tail feathers but they are so wide that showing them makes it difficult to see the bird close up. I attached a pic which shows his tail feathers. I remember this as special shoot. Posted: 10/01/2025 19:46:54
Dough, I have both of my knees replaced.... also you can see a view of Mt Hood this past September in Group 4 (https://psadigital.org/group04/image.php?iid=111141). You have the full image of the Quetzal just taking off. For us, and all the time we were there, the birds never took off. I am attaching the full frame of the portrait, and yes it is quite a crop in spite that I used the 800 mm, and another image showing the full plumage, but just siting on the tree. Posted: 10/03/2025 16:37:14
The whole bird Posted: 10/03/2025 16:37:52