birds of kew gardens-2
Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at the end of a leisurely visit to Kew Gardens in Richmond South London.Time
This photo was taken on a Saturday afternoon in late autumn back in 2014. I had spent an entire day at Kews and several hours photographing the Golden Pheasants. As we headed for the exit, the bird walked out of a nearby thicket and began feeding on the footpath right in front of me. I didn't have much time to react. I just started snapping away as the bird walked non-nonchalantly towards me.Lighting
I initially had the ISO setting at 100 but found that to be too dark. I tried ISO 200 before settling for 400. I wanted to blur the background but more importantly I wanted the birds firey tones to leap out of the image by keeping the shot as dark as I could get away with. I used the birds eye to give me an indication of how what was ideal. I rarely use flash, by that i mean I can't remember the last time I used flash. I tend to underexpose the shot by 2 stops but i think in this case it might have been 3 or even 4. It was a cloudy day but the bird was walking in a part of the footpath with no shadows which made the challenge of achieving consistent light conditions that little bit easier.Equipment
This image was taken with a Nikon D5300, Nikon 70-300mm f4-5.6 set 1/60 shutter speed, f5.6 at 270mm focal length.Inspiration
The Golden Pheasant bird is in my view one of the most breath taking animals. They are tranquil and elegant and their rich firey tones and colours have always left me keen to observe them and photograph them. I had never managed to get as close to any of them as I was with this one. It was walking about 2 feet away from me and seemed perfectly at ease with me snapping frame after frame. I was fortunate to be walking there at the moment it emerged onto the foot path. 10 seconds later or sooner and I would never have taken this photo.Editing
I shoot in raw so I did some slightly post editing in adobe photoshop lightroom to liven up the colours.In my camera bag
I always have my Nikon D5300 and 3 lens in my bag. The Nikon 70-300mm f4-5.6, the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 (perhaps my favourite bit of kit ever!) and the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8. I also carry a small pouch which contains a spare battery, a cleaning lens pen, several memory cards and a cardreader.Feedback
All my training would have suggested that I use a lens with a lower f-stop to capture more detail when so close to the subject. However I had no time to switch lens, otherwise i would have missed the moment. The lesson was just to start taking photos and adjust the settings to suit the conditions. it worked a treat and i don't think i could have done a much better job with any other lens.
