Golden Pheasant
May, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at a Bird Conservation Park. Here birds are kept in big enclosures and can walk around freely. They have baths and a lot of vegetation in their enclosures. Golden Pheasants like this one are very difficult to capture as they constantly move around and are nervous birds.Time
This was taken early in the afternoon. As I walked along the pathway he came rushing out from under the bushes. I followed him around a bit but he was darting in and out the bushes. So I sat down and waited. Me sitting very still posed with my camera in my hand made him walk into the pathway. I lay down on my stomach to capture the sky behind him. Again ... a bit more patience and out he came! Click, click, click ...Lighting
I wanted him to be out the shadows. Him being in the bushes all the time would have given me shadows. Hence I waited until he was on the pathway for a clean shot with blue sky behind himEquipment
I used my trusted old Nikon 5000 with a 300mm lens. I did not carry a tripod with me and as I was lying on my stomach, the tripod would not have been of use anyway.Inspiration
I love Golden Pheasants. When I go the Bird Conservatory, I always look out for them. They are scarce and very nervous birds, I have never managed again to get a good close-up of one. But he was young and oh - so beautiful - he was worth the laying on my stomach waiting for him, even if I got a lot of strange looks from the other visitors.Editing
One cannot do to much processing on animals. I take my photo's in RAW format and with Photoshop I added a bit of vibrance. I was fortunate that with this shot not much more processing was necessaryIn my camera bag
I have two bags that contain my photographic equipment at home. Before I go on a shot, I repack my bag and take the lenses I might need. When I took this photo, I only had one camera - the Nikon 5000. Now I also have a Nikon 7200. If I go for close-up shots I take my 200mm and 300mm lenses and one camera. When I go to game farms or reserves I take both cameras, one with the 300mm lenses and the other with a 600mm lense. This enables me to quickly swop around without changing lenses for either a close-up or when I want to zoom in. I rarely take landscape photo's but love the effect of my Fisheye lense. Very importantly, I always have a cleansing liquid and a cloth (suitable for camera equipment) in my bag to keep my lenses and camera clean. Oh, and a plastic cover for my camera in case it drizzles a bit.Feedback
I am not a professional photographer and am entirely self-taught, although I listen to a lot of advice and seek advice from my friends who also enjoy photography as a hobby. What I have learned is that it is important to get to know your camera and practice a lot with different settings. What I think is more important than technical excellence,however, is your passion and love for photography. I also enjoy partaking in sites like Viewbug, which I believe has developed my eye for a good photo. Finally, as Tolstoy says: Good art is ultimately a form of communication between the author of the art and those who view it. The piece of art conveys the feelings, emotions and the disposition of the artist which is then translated by the viewer. A good artist is not one that creates his art for the pleasures of others but to express himself. The most important ingredient in a piece of art is the visibility of the artist's sincerity as he conveys his inner being.
