See how I fly!
Weaver bird, demonstrating to potential mates.
Weaver bird, demonstrating to potential mates.
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Jul, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
We were on our way home from a road-trip and stopped at "The Blue Cow" restaurant in Barrydale, South Africa (great cheesecake!). The restaurant overlooks a dam and there are some acacia trees at one end of the dam. In the acacia trees a noisy mob of weavers (this is a Cape Weaver) was busy building nests and wooing potential mates to come and live in them.Time
This image was taken at midday.Lighting
What helped was that the background was in shade so the bird was automatically highlighted.Equipment
Nikon D7100 and the Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 at 500mm. The lens is great - the auto-focus is very quick. The birds were moving rapidly and it was a case of picking one, following it and waiting for a great moment to shoot. All about timing.Inspiration
I love these birds - they are so expressive with their golden eyes - and these ones were so desperately keen to find mates; they were fluttering their wings, calling, hopping on and off their brand-new nests as if to show the way. I really wanted to capture something of the energy and expression.Editing
Very little. The light was from the right direction; I didn't have to worry about shadows or contrast. I used spot metering and focusing.In my camera bag
I usually walk around with a backpack that has one camera body (D7100) with the all-purpose 18-200mm kit lens on. I usually carry both a Nikkor 70-300mm lens for some reach and a Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 wide-angle too. I have spare battery, lens cleaning cloth, a small towel, plastic splash cover... If I know I'm going to be shooting birds or wildlife, I'll carry the 200-500mm lens, but it's quite a brute to carry for long distances. Lovely lens, though and I strongly recommend it!Feedback
Patience! And the light has to be right. Be prepared to wait; watch the birds for a bit so that you understand what's going on. If a bird keeps going back to a specific branch, compose your shot on it and wait for the bird to repeat its actions. Focus on the bird's eyes and try to capture it looking directly at the camera.
