Richard Camp
March 2025 - King Vulture Stare-down
About the Image(s)
I took this photo at ISO 1600, 1/2000 sec, on a Canon 600mm prime.
It was taken in Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, in a hide set up for photography of King Vultures. The image was cropped vertically and processed in LightRoom.
Techniques used include bringing down the highlights on top of the head, adding clarity to the body, adjusting saturation and hue in the reds, balancing the highlights in the left eye, and adding white and black contrast in the
body with masking using a small brush. The final image was run through Topaz AO to reduce noise and adjust sharpening in the body
8 comments posted
Richard, that is something else! Hard to believe he is real! The focus is perfect (on the top of his head you can see little individual'hairs' standing up. The soft background sets him off very nicely. Impressive! Posted: 03/03/2025 08:31:31
(Groups 20 & 81)
Brilliant!! Such an intense stare and captured really well. Posted: 03/07/2025 12:04:12
Thanks for your comments and encouragement Ginny and Angela. Posted: 03/07/2025 12:15:58
Hey Richard, look at this amazing nice image you made! It's so beautiful, and your processing really brings out all the details. I know some people think vultures are a bit ugly, but I think they're actually really cool creatures. Your photo shows how beautiful they can be. Well done! Posted: 03/07/2025 14:12:50
Janet Pieper
The detail in the feathers is amazing. The whole thing is so sharp and detailed. Just looking at its expression makes me smile. I also love the green background. It balances beautifully with the orange. And those eyes! So clear and inquisitive. It's great that there is no halo around the edges of the bird. I can't find anything to suggest. Perfect the way it is. Posted: 03/08/2025 17:31:51
Hi Richard. This image really tell me you photography skill sets. To me, it's excellent. You deserve all good words from our friends here in DDG 90. Like what Barbara said. I always what I would do if this was my own image? My answer in this case. I would add a bit of blur, soft and dim background to make the bird looks captured from the wild. It just a personal preference. Posted: 03/16/2025 22:57:37
Wow, wonderful capture of a very interesting bird. The detail and color are great, and you were fortunate that it was looking directly at you. Posted: 03/23/2025 16:49:37
It almost doesn't look real! Posted: 03/26/2025 21:33:29