This picture of a Masked Trogon was taken at Sachamatia Lodge outside of Mindo, Ecuador. The lodge has a moth blind (a piece of white canvas stretched between two poles with light shining on it that stays on all night). Early in the morning (in just barely gray light) many birds come to eat the moths that have collected all night. This is one of those birds. This image was taken with a Canon R5, 600 mm II lens off a tripod. SS was 1/6 second (not a typo), f/5.6 (a mistake on my part-should have been f/4.0) and ISO of 10,000. Processed in DXO Pure Raw, edited in PS (small crop from L and bottom), a piece of wire was cloned out on L and the BG was brought down slightly. Finally it was run through Topaz DeNoise AI at Low Light settings. Would never have dreamed of this shot 5 years ago with my first 70D Canon camera.
Masked Trogon
Country Ecuador
Location Sachamatia Lodge, outside of Mindo EC
Gender Male
Age Adult
Activity At a Bird Feeder
- Created Timestamp08/21/2022 10:10:52
- CameraCanon EOS R5
- Aperture5.6
- CreditJim Babbitt
- Focal Length600
- Iso10000
- Shutter Speed1/6
The Trogon pic turned out stunning! Thanks for including all your post-processing info. I’ve not heard of a moth blind before – what an interesting way to attract birds! I’ve gotta share this in a future GBP Notes!
Fairly common in many of the Ecuador lodges. Most effective on moonless or cloudy nights. The darker the environment the better it works. There are mornings when I have seen. literally, hundreds of moths on the canvas and ground. The ground birds, like brush finches, chase up the moths from the ground and the flycatchers sit above waiting to catch them. It can be a frenzy for awhile. Big problem is that this only happens in grey light. Tough to get images; a tripod is a must. Often you are shooting at insane SS and ISOs, like this shot. In… Read more »
Amazing shot Bajadreamer. Quite a stunning bird.
Very nice shot. Love the colors