Resident Peacock of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK @ 12 May 2012
Aug, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
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“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” - David Attenborough This photo was taken in the world-famous and much loved Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (“KEW Gardens”) - the long-established and internationally important institution for the promotion of Botanical Science, Conservation and Biodiversity around the world. Kew Gardens is one of London's top tourist attractions and an UNESCO World Heritage Site that houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world. Kew Gardens consists of 121 hectares (300 acres) of gardens and botanical glasshouses, four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures, all set in an internationally significant landscape and listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. “To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.” - Ansel AdamsTime
“There is a brief moment when all there is in a man's mind and soul and spirit is reflected through his eyes, his hands, his attitude. This is the moment to record.” - Yousuf Karsh This photo was taken in the ‘Golden Hour’ at 5:30pm. I have spent many happy Saturdays at Kew Gardens which was almost never long enough with the countless photo opportunities on offer. Kew Gardens has definitely saved the best for the last for this visit with the Resident Superstar Peacock which suddenly appeared from nowhere that instantly caught my total and undivided attention. “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” - Ralph Waldo EmersonLighting
"What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time." - John Berger Bird Photography was not what I had on my mind at all which I considered it to be way beyond my reach due to my lack of skills and the severely limited capability offered by my very basic camera. I thank my lucky star till this day for being at the right place, at the right time and with the right light. This photo was a purely opportunistic snapshot and no carefully organised studio portrait shot. I was fortunate to have the time to press the shutter button fast enough to catch the fleeting beauty and simply did not have the luxury to try fix the lighting to maximise my chance of success even if I knew how and had the equipment to empower me to do so. With hindsight, perhaps I have skilfully used backlit which I used a lot in my Macro Floral Photography without realising what I did in split second. “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” - George EastmanEquipment
“We do not take pictures with our cameras, but with our hearts and minds.” - Arnold Newman I took this photo with no other photographic equipment other than my trusted first digital camera, a fairly basic ‘Fuji FinePix F410’, which I guess many ‘Professional Photographers’ will not like to be seen using. “Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” - Yousuf KarshInspiration
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” - Vincent van Gogh I am a ‘Nature Lover’, ‘Published Author’ and ‘Published Photographer’ as well as an active and loyal ‘Friend of Kew'. I have started ‘Kew Images Project’ ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/khl_kew_01/albums ) in 2012 for public display of my choice photos taken in my beloved Kew Gardens for my personal record as well as to volunteer my help to promote public interest and public support of Kew Gardens and its important scientific and educational work, nature conservation and biodiversity worldwide. This peacock photo is one of my all-time favourites in my humble attempt to capture some of the many fleeting beauties that I was fortunate to have seen and photographed at Kew Gardens. If this peacock photo can help bring joy to other people too, I will be delighted. Kew Gardens has selected ’29’ photos of ‘Kew Images Project’ as ‘Stand-Out Photos’ in the high-profile international public photo contests since December 2010. These ’29’ images include ‘2’ ‘Winning Photos’ are now on public display via Kew Gardens’ Photo Galleries: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kewonflickr/galleries/?rb=1 “Photography helps people to see.” - Berenice AbbottEditing
"You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life." - Joan Miro My greatest joy in photography as a hobby is in the taking of photos rather than spending excessive time and effort in post-processing. As a general rule, my ambition is to try my very humble best get it right first time in the taking of the photos to minimise the need of post-processing to fix them afterwards. I have undertaken the minimal post-processing for this peacock photo that was limited to basic cropping. I know I will think of this peacock photo all my life and be grateful for this rare, precious and memorable photo opportunity.In my camera bag
“Too much equipment interrupts the flow of emotional response that is the essential human element communicated in the best nature photography. Yes, the little things do mean a lot.” - Galen Rowell I customary spent a whole Saturday at Kew Gardens for each of my photography day trips, from opening time to closing time and skipping lunch in between. Spending 8+ hours on my feet at the end of a 5-day working week with intense concentration can be tiring and I try make light the burden by carrying only the absolutely bare essentials, my trusted camera and plenty of batteries.Feedback
“If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his/her lens, and if he/she is compassionate, it’s already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.” - Eve Arnold The high-performance superstar peacock of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was always a great visitors’ attraction. There were about ten of us of a range of ages and nationalities watching it on the open grassland near Victoria Gate. One elderly lady - probably North American and in her eighties - shouted out at least six times that the peacock kept going towards “THAT MAN” - which was me! I replied out loud to her last repetitive complaint but without directing my remarks at her, that it was no good just watching the peacock and ‘expecting’ the peacock to give a special and memorable performance without doing anything to encourage it. We should instead all be telling the peacock at the top of our voices that it has great feather and is very beautiful because just like humans, peacocks can do with positive feedbacks and sincere praises too. I was pleasantly surprised that EVERYONE promptly followed my ‘instruction’ and all started telling the peacock that it was beautiful. Lo and behold, the peacock suddenly charged towards the old lady who was complaining only a moment ago that it was showing favouritism towards me (“THAT MAN”) to give her a good hearty flash! She looked as if she could not believe her sudden change of fortune, gave out a loud squeal of joy and had one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen on ANYONE! When the superstar peacock finally retracted his tail feather after a prolonged display, some members of the crowd started moaning that it was all over! I shouted out loud to the crowd to earnestly ask to see more, perhaps it might respond to our enthusiastic request for encore. Surprisingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly) EVERYONE promptly followed my second ‘instruction’ and started clapping their hands. Thankfully, the superstar peacock did give an encore! The man standing next to me - probably in his mid-sixties, seemed so happily excited that he started waving both his hands high up in the air and dancing in front of our superstar peacock which did not seem to be impressed at all by his public performance! “Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” - Franz Kafka
