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ksosin

Lilac-Breasted Roller Bird

From Kenya, one of the world's most colorful and beautiful birds.

From Kenya, one of the world's most colorful and beautiful birds.
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Mar, 2019

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Awards

Zenith Award

Top Shot Award 22

Spring 21 Award

Legendary Award

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9Teen Award

Lucky 3 Award

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Magnificent Capture

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

My cat stuck her face in the camera and I took advantage1

This amazingly beautiful bird posed for me, and when he puffed up just a little, that bright blue popped up. From Kenya

Migrating geese take a break in the National DeSoto Bend Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska

In a trip to Rwanda, we visited an area with a large troop of Golden Monkeys.

Large male lion sunning himself, slight breeze through his mane, in Kenya.

Night was coming on and this little guy was apparently told by Mama to hide in the log. He kept coming out so we could photograph him, until finally

The multitude of baskets hanging on trees is one of the first things I noticed in Kenya, so I was pleased to capture this little bird at work.

Behind The Lens

Location

This lilac breasted roller bird was hanging out in the Serengeti in 2013, my first photo safari. Two of them were in a bare thorny tree, and they performed for us beautifully. On this trip I first became interested in photography and have loved it since then!

Time

This was taken, according to the records, between 8:00 am and 9:00 am, which puts it towards the end of a morning of safari photography.

Lighting

As is often the case with animal photography, particularly bird photography, we had to stop where we were and stay there so the birds would not fly. I was in a safari vehicle, probably one without a top. The morning was hazy enough to not be in full sun, a little cloudy but not dark at all.

Equipment

On that trip, I had a Canon 60D and took this one with the 70-300 lens, handheld.

Inspiration

These are the most beautiful birds I've ever seen.

Editing

Post-processing involved enhancing the colors and contrast, muted because of the hazy day, and cropping close enough to see the feather patterns.

In my camera bag

At that time, I only had the Canon 60D, the 70-300mm lens, and a landscape lens (I no longer remember what, but it was probably something like a 25 mm.) Today I carry a Canon R6, the 100-500mm F4.5 L lens, sometimes the RF 800 MM, and the 24-105mm F4 lens. Depending on where I'm going, I probably have a tripod and an extender, and lots of batteries!

Feedback

Bird photography takes a lot of patience and more than a little luck to be able to isolate the bird from tree or bush. The photos of the birds just sitting there are beautiful, but also we sat there for a long time waiting with camera ready for the birds to spread their wings, or snag a bite of something, or even to catch them as they flew away.

See more amazing photos, follow ksosin

ksosin

ksosin

Lilac-Breasted Roller Bird

From Kenya, one of the world's most colorful and beautiful birds.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ksosin

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