New Pico Pics!

[waterfaller1]

 

[Momto3boys]

 

[Holiday]

Nice shots

 

[VictoriaVague]

So handsome

 

[waterfaller1]

wish these came out..

 

[Anne & Gang]

wow!!! smoochable...

 

[TikiLola]

...I'm too sexy for my beak! Too sexy for my beak!

 

[expressmailtome]

Pico is looking great!

Matt

 

[itzmered]

Pico is stunning!

Hint: set your shutter speed higher to get those action shots

 

[waterfaller1]

Thanks everyone Oh thanks for that Chris. I really need to find my way around this camera. I have not really changed much in the way of settings, and I need to I know.

 

[Onyxena]

 

[ArtBird]

Pico!! Does he always sit with his beak pointed upwards? I can't imagine how birds fare using such a long large beak! Are their bites very bad? Or not as much pressure as a short beak? Will the tip of his beak grow back? is it healing ok? really curious....he's adorable.

 

[waterfaller1]

Thanks and good morning. I believe the whole beak up in the air thing is a sign he is on the alert. Remember I am sticking a new black object with a reflective window towards him. It's difficult to get normal relaxed behavior in pics with him.. The beak can twist and apply pressure, but it's not the norm for him to do so. We went through a little spot shortly after he arrived here, that he got over. His only issue now is with the phone. It's nothing like a parrot bite.
The beak will grow as any other, and he is doing well. Thanks for asking. :x3:

 

[JAM]

 

[faeryphoebe1]

He's absolutely beautiful. Great pics!

 

[H110hawk]

Thanks everyone Oh thanks for that Chris. I really need to find my way around this camera. I have not really changed much in the way of settings, and I need to I know.

Lovely birdy!

The best way to get better with your camera is practice! Take a zillion shots, and then try to figure out where they went right/wrong, and incorporate those lessons. Sounds like you have a DSLR now? The glory here is the only thing you lose to a bad exposure is a few seconds of your time, and you have a "captive" subject whom you can chase around the house to your desire. Here are some helpful hints based on this one you wished had come out.

The reason this one didn't come out is likely the back lighting. Notice the lamp in the background? Plus the open window? The camera is likely set to light meter the "entire frame" of the picture for light and average it out. Your window is perfectly exposed, the lamp is over exposed, and Pico is underexposed. Set your camera to "point" or "weighted center" metering. This means whichever auto-focus indicator lights up, it also uses for light metering. (You saved the paper manual right? )

Next, turn the camera from "auto" to 'A'perature priority mode. This is that f/4.5 number you see kicking around on the outside of your lens and in your viewfinder. This is how "open" the shutter is when you take a picture, which translates to how much light is let in to the camera. Lower is more, but you will also have problems getting the whole beak in focus! Higher is smaller. (This mixes with shutter speed, or the length of time the shutter is held open at your fixed aperature size. Lower f-stops means higher shutter speeds, more stopped/sharper action!) Using whatever wheel you have, scroll until you are at around f/4.5, maybe 1-2 "stops" lower if your lens allows. Fiddle with this as you take pictures.

After that, set your camera to multishot mode. Hold down the trigger, get several frames per second of pictures. It's great, and scares people who you loan your camera to who think they have broken it when they take 5 pictures of something.

If you aren't standing at least 1 meter away from your subject, do so! Don't use the zoom features here, you can always crop it down to get rid of the excess stuff in the frame. This also gives you more flexibility if birdo moves, which we all know they never do!

 

[waterfaller1]

Wow great info. Now to decipher it Thank you!!

 

[DeanArrlack]

What caused the beak injury? Just curious so I can get an idea if there is anything I need to look out for when I get my aracari.

The pictures are lovely, he is really quite beautiful.

 

[Deueller]

Amazing Pics!!! What a beautiful bird, I am new to softbills, but they are just beautiful

 

[waterfaller1]

Thank you. I am not certain as I did not witness it. But I can only imagine it was his crazy fast flying.