Green Bee Eater
...this shot is about being ready for the unexpected and surprisingly (and unlike perhaps the other 99 times), I did everything right and captured this beautifu...
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...this shot is about being ready for the unexpected and surprisingly (and unlike perhaps the other 99 times), I did everything right and captured this beautiful Green Bee Eater as it fluttered in range whilst trekking in Sri Lanka...
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Nov, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
We were on the final leg of a food tour of Sri Lanka and were visiting the Lunugamvehera National Park. The national park is situated in the south of Sri Lanka and is an important habitat for water birds and elephants. The Green Bee Eater is very fast little bird and I was lucky to be in the right place, at the right time, with good enough camera settings to snap this little chap before he flew off for more bees!Time
It was late afternoon, incredibly hot with fatigue setting in after a very long, but rewarding day. Just the kind of photographer unfriendly ambient you don't want when such a precious subject presents itself to your lens.Lighting
Light was fading with the aperture wide open to make the most of what was left. But this worked very well for me producing exactly the depth-of-field effect I was looking for.Equipment
A Nikon 7100 fitted with an 18mm - 140mm (fit-and-forget) travel zoom lens. The image was shot on-the-fly from the back of a truck so hand-held is most of my work.Inspiration
I love nature and world travel provides an opportunity to explore new wildlife through the lens. This fella was too good to miss and I'm so glad I didn't.Editing
Usual minimal processing of the RAW image to .jpg using my own pre-set - this offers a little contrast boost, some black tone boost and the obvious lens correction. Other than that, I strive to leave images 'as is' unless the lighting conditions demand otherwise. The biggest contribution Lightroom offers is the ability to crop and so allow me to frame the image in the way I wanted.In my camera bag
Very little really. A spare SD card. A tiny first aid kit and that is about it. There's no room for much else! I like to be agile and on the move with my camera and if I had a bigger bag, I'd probably leave it somewhere... The best piece of additional kit I have is my cross-body camera strap that let's it ride comfortably on my hip between shot, but always ready for action when needed.Feedback
I still class myself a beginner! Just get out there and take pictures. All kinds. Indoors, outdoors, people, animals, scenes, daytime, night time and get to know the camera in your hands. Don't forget, you as the shooter, are always the weakest link, not you camera. But always enjoy what you do and never be too hard on yourself!
