Lilac-Breasted Roller
A fluffy Lilac-Breasted Roller keeping warm on a chilly morning in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
A fluffy Lilac-Breasted Roller keeping warm on a chilly morning in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
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Sep, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo while on a safari holiday in South Luangwa National Park in ZambiaTime
My trip was in mid-August 2013, so it was coming out of winter and the weather was starting to warm up, but the mornings were still a bit chilly. A typical day would begin with a wake up call at 5:30am with the morning game drive starting at about 6am. This photo was taken on August 14th, 2013 at 6:25amLighting
It was soon after sunrise (African sunrises and sunsets are incredible, by the way!) so the light was still quite diffused, but already fairly brightEquipment
I was using a Nikon D5000 and 70-300mm lensInspiration
The safari guides in Zambia are amazingly good and are able to multitask really well! Our guide spotted this lilac-breasted roller perching on a branch all fluffed up and soaking up the available sunlight. They usually look a bit sleeker, but this one looked really cute all puffed up! I really loved the vivid colours of the birds there, especially the rollers and bee eaters, and was hoping to be able to capture some of the amazing colours.Editing
I used Lightroom to process this image. I added some contrast and clarity, lifted the shadows and deepened the blacks. I added some vibrance and a bit of saturation. I added some sharpening and only a tiny bit of noise reduction to try and retain as much detail in the feathers as possible. Finally I had to crop the image quite heavily as the bird was quite small and we weren't able to get too close in the jeep without scaring it away!In my camera bag
With my Nikon D5000 I usually carried the 18-200mm and 35mm f/1.8. I have since upgraded to Micro Four-Thirds with the Olympus OM-D E-M10. I usually carry the 14-42mm EZ kit lens, 25mm f/1.8 and 45mm f/1.8. Depending on the situation, I will also include the 75-300mm. In addition, I'll throw in an extra battery, a couple memory cards and a circular polariser and I'm good to go!Feedback
There are so many amazing photo opportunities when on safari! It can sometimes be a bit tricky because you're confined to staying in the jeep and it's not always possible to reorientate to photograph a subject from a different angle. In those situations you may have to make do with whatever is available to you. While on safari my longest lens was the 70-300mm, and at least 90% of my photographs were all taken at 300mm. Even then, many of my photographs still required cropping in post, so longer lenses are definitely beneficial. For photographing birds, especially those backlit by the sky, remember to use spot metering and also get ready for some BIF shots as the bird flies away when your safari guide starts the engine of the jeep!
