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Village Weaver, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
Village Weaver, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
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Oct, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at a small picnic area in Lake Nakuru, Kenya, in February 2014Time
During a one month stay in Kenya in 2014, I had the chance to go on safari to several natural reserves. In Lake Nakuru, while we had breakfast in a picnic area birds came to eat bread crumbs and food. This bright yellow birds (Village weaver) came by the dozen, they seemed to be at ease and not afraid.Lighting
Nothing special, it was morning light, under the trees, in a shaded areaEquipment
The camera was a Nikon D700. The birds were beautiful and I decided to immediately use what I had on place in the camera, my Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 with a 2x Nikon duplicator. No tripod or flash were necessary. The birds were very fast, but this one, was kind enough to pose for me for more than 2 seconds. In all other pictures I took of them I used a higher speed.Inspiration
Apart from the fact that the birds were beautiful and did merit to have pictures taken, I remember there was something going on about a film or comic called Angry Birds. I thought these birds, although very cheerful and beautiful did look very angry. Angry or not, their bright colours made them so attractive and they were very eager to come close and have some crumbs (I saw them stealing even butter!!!).Editing
At the time I only used an Apple Application Photo editor. These pictures were bright, full of colour (the D700 was a fantastic camera) and did not need practically any editing. I imported them into the Lightroom I started using in 2016 but remained very much with the same slight touches.In my camera bag
Cameras, though always Nikon, have evolved, and therefore have come and gone. In 2014, the D700 was still (for me) "the camera". But not long after, the D810 came on board. Although the D700 was still much cherished, the massive 36 Mp of the D810 made a difference and I took both of them in many trips. Eventually, in late 2018, I got a Z6 and that was a revolution. I decided to entirely shift to the Z system, got rid of both DSLRs (so sorry about it) and I now have a Z6 and a Z7. Lenses have also changed: the Sigma Art 35 and 50 mm made their appearance but the Nikon Z 50 mm 1.8 S is a magnificent lens and I am afraid I will have to give the Sigma 50 mm away. What's in the bag depends on which pictures I intend to take, whether it be landscapes (24-70 mm, 28 and 35 mm) Macro (Nikon 105 2.8 Micro) or normal portraits or street shots (35, 50 or 85 mm). At least, the Z are a bit smaller (though not much lighter) than the D810.Feedback
You have to take the occasion when it comes. Wether birds or lions, insects or plants, they may come up at the most unexpected time, precisely when you do not have the perfect equipment at hand. Use whatever you have and take the picture. I once got a fox when I had the Micro 105 mm placed in the camera but it came beautifully. This time I luckily had a 400 mm lens ready to shoot when the birds came up and they were at hardly 3 meters from me. I quickly used the 400 mm and got this beauty.
