Cassowary

Cassowary

Superb image!! Great perspective! 7/7 Wow!

When I saw the thumbnail picture I had no idea what treat I was in for once the larger image loaded. Aside from me wishing that the entire beak was in focus, the unusual pose draws me right in and the perfect crop, the colors and their contrast, a non-existent and hence not distracting background keep me there. Besides, I have never seen a bird like this before; what's its cap made of?

Was this shot in a studio? The light and composition are wonderful. How did you get the bird to cooperate?

The cap is much like the horn of a rhino,these birds are quite large about five and a half foot tall when mature.They can be quite vicious, you do not want to get too near them(they attack)I was up on a rock ledge when taking this watching them foraging in the undergrowth of the rainforest,and no it was not a studio shot, but beams of sunlight were coming nicely through the trees.Well Dieter you want to come to OZ, we have some fabulous bird life here.

You Aussies sure have some unusual wildlife to shoot. This is just one more species I've never heard of that is from down under. I can safely say, this is the best picture of a cassowary I have ever seen. Really though, it is a very good capture.

Its found in Northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea.Thanks for looking.Australia is a photographers paradise, thank goodness we are such a small population in a country as large as the US,it has not been too spoiled yet.

Educational. It's the first time that I see this species. Regards Vassilis.

Beautiful shot Birte. Amazing colors and contrasts. Great composition. Well done.

I lived in Australia for 2 years and stopped by the rainforest in the north of QLD. I saw a whole family group of these birds, but this was before I got into photography and I only have a rather poor digital photo from that encounter. This photo is great. Colour and pose is excellent. And yes, these birds are dangerous. We were told of a man who was sliced open when the bird kicked him and cut him with it's middle claw. Velociraptor anyone? Great work Birte!

As dramatic a shot as you can get. Colors are terrific, focus excellent, and do like the angle. Great one.

if that is an offer, I may actually take you up on it some time. Regards, Dieter

You are welcome as long as you let me know well ahead (I do between 4-6 overseas trips a year) and as long as you give yourself time, distances here are far, so time is needed to get to places.But we definitely have more diversity than the US when it comes to animals and birds.