Posed bird shots

Kevin Scott · Jul 10, 2005

Worked up a few more of my bird shots. Man, it sure takes time to go through all these. Of course it doesn't help when I take ~500 shots each time I go!

This one was kind of neat. GBH is not one of the more common birds found at Gatorland but this one showed up. What was interesting about this is while he's standing there wading, 2 gators came awful close to him from his left. Then a 3rd gator came right in front of him. I was sure one of them was going to snap him up, but alas, no! He wasn't too amused with the intruders and let out a couple of big yelps before taking off. Here's what it looked like. Notice the 2 gators behind him and one just passing in front.

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I know this probably isn't technically right but it has some characteristics that really make me like this shot. The light was really nice but I was amazed at the bokeh. This (as were all of these) was taken with the 300 f4 AFS and Tamron 1.4x on a tripod.

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And this is one of my favorite Egret posed shots.

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Gilles · Jul 10, 2005

Very nice picture but very contrasty.

drueter · Jul 10, 2005

Nicely done, Kevin! I particularly like the second one -- tricolor isn't it?

jaminphoto · Jul 10, 2005

I like the 2nd one.
Not sure what you mean by technically not right about the shot. Is it the side lighting? The lighting works quite well IMO, you still got the face lit up enoough.

--ricardo

Gale · Jul 10, 2005

Great stuff Kevin.

Notice the alligator trying to maneuver around the back of the Heron.. They are sneaky for sure. Seasoned GBH, knows thier ways.

Like them allllllllll !!!!!!!!!!

Kevin Scott · Jul 10, 2005

Hi Don, yes, that's a tricolored heron. When you catch them in the afternoon sun, their brown becomes very chocolatey. Kinda cool coloration with the grey and brown.

Hi Ricardo, I mostly was referring to chopping off his behind. I started shooting with the 300 + 1.4x and this guy landed on the railing of the boardwalk. So I decided to shoot him anyway, even though I knew I couldn't fit him in. I tried horizontal but still couldn't get him in the frame completely. Nonetheless, I was happy how it turned out--nice and sharp with a creamy background.

Thanks everyone for stopping by to look and comment.

Kevin Scott · Jul 10, 2005

Hi Gale, our posts must've crossed! I was sure the gator was going to have a snack and I was all ready. But I guess they're all full of the hotdogs the tourists feed them so they're not interested in the birds.

Gale · Jul 10, 2005

Kevin,
I would have had a tough time seeing an Alligator grab on of those. Oh dear....

PhotoDawg · Jul 10, 2005

Nice shootin' Kevin. The background's seem real dark. Did you mean to do that??

Keith · Jul 10, 2005

Nice series Kevin, very contrasty and handled those whites beautifully

Keith

Kevin Scott · Jul 10, 2005

Thanks Bryan. On the first shot, what you don't see is that there is a short boardwalk that leads to the 3-story observation platform directly behind the bird and gators. That, along with the trees just to the front of the bird creates a dark shadowy area which is the background on this shot. You can see the darkness in the water's reflection. I probably overexposed the bird a bit and should've closed down a bit more, which would've made it even darker.

For the last shot, that bird is sitting in a tree pretty close to me. Behind him is the pond and the trees in the background are a good 50-100 feet behind him. Because he's white and in direct sun, I stopped down quite a bit to avoid blowing him out, which causes the background to go dark.

So, in answer to your question, yeah, it was intentional but more of a result of trying to expose for the subject.

Kevin Scott · Jul 10, 2005

Thanks Keith. I usually start with a particular shutter/aperture combo, fire a couple tests on white birds, make adjustments as needed and keep it there the rest of the afternoon. As long as I'm shooting white birds, they all expose correctly. Then I do the same for the tricolors or little blue herons or other dark birds. I'll switch back and forth for variety.