Monday
May, 2013Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FloridaTime
Walking through the bird enclosures is an experience. Birds of all types and colors surround you and the staff hand you small cups of food which attract the birds to you instantly. We had arrived early and was at the tail end of the golden hour. This guy was sitting aloof on the rope, looking as though he'd just got out of his morning shower, I snapped him while several other birds were sitting on my hat, arms and fingers.Lighting
The lighting was natural, a bright, sunny day but the netting all around the aviary, along with many trees and bushes, helped to diffuse the direct sunlight to soften it perfectly.Equipment
My Nikon D700 with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens. Hand held, no other equipmentInspiration
This was an instant "got to get this" shot. I'd been shooting birds all over the aviary as we wandered through but this guy caught the corner of my eye - it said a lot about "be prepared, shoot and shoot again". He was perfectly posed, very still and looked like he was having a bad hair day! Along with the bright plumage and the expression - he was a must.Editing
Very little post processing, just the normal work you'd do on a RAW file to get the sharpness and exposure corrections done.In my camera bag
Depending on the nature of any shoot, my equipment varies. On a day out at a theme park or just wandering around interesting places, my Nikon D800, Nikon's 24-70 f28 and 70 - 200 f2.8 lenses go everywhere with me. An SB910 flash with diffuser, polarizing filter, spare batteries and cards. A tripod (travel or heavy duty), a light stand with a shoot through umbrella with my Light/flash meter are always within a short range. My back has taken hard surgeries over recent years so I have to be particular about the weight I carry but after a while experience helps with the choices. My advice? think about what you are expecting to shoot and pack accordingly!Feedback
Digital cameras provide something that film cameras didn't, that is the ability to shoot and shoot and shoot. Not every image will be at National geographic standard and you'll discard so very many of them but if you keep that in mind, shoot frequently and shoot anything that may be of interest. In transferring from film to digital, I'd say most of us who had to ay for their own film, were reluctant to keep pressing the shutter release, get over that hangup and you stand a chance......
