Wattled Crane

This Wattled Crane from Africa was photographed at the Lowry Park Zoo. I love their bright red faces. This is a huge crane, standing up to 6 ft tall. This is the second largest crane in the species, second only to the Sarus Crane.

Settings used making this photo are 1/3200 at F7.1 in Aperture Priority mode with partial metering on the bird's face at ISO 400 with 235mm focal length with my 55-250mm lens.

Nicobar Pigeon

This is another bird from the Asian Gardens at Lowry Park Zoo. It's a Nicobar Pigeon and in my opinion, she's one of the fanciest pigeons I've ever seen. I love her colors!

These birds are from Southeast Asia, Thailand, Cambodia, Nicobar India, etc. Currently, they are OK, but are considered a near threatened species due to logging and hunting for food as well as their gizzards being used for jewelry making.

This one is a female, since she has a knob on her beak and unfortunately, her pure white tail can hardly be seen due to her position.

Settings used for this shot in bright afternoon sunlight were 1/60th at F7.1 in aperture priority mode with spot metering off the bird so I wouldn't lose her colors. I used ISO 200 (only because I forgot it was set there). I should've used 400 to get more speed on my shutter and used my 55-250mm lens at 250mm.

Black-naped Oriole

Every now and then when my life gets too hectic and I get overwhelmed with all I have to do, I take a break from everything. I stay off the computer, my camera sits and I pretty much do nothing. If any of you have been wondering, that's what I've done this past week or so.

Today, one of my friends, Kathy, got me out to the zoo. At first I was excited, then I was on the verge of changing my mind about going at all, and finally, Kathy emailed me and said she didn't want to go alone. So, I went and I'm glad I did. I got some great shots, saw an old friend, Carol and met one of Kathy's friends, Mike, from her group.

It was one of the hottest days we've had this summer, but it was worth it. Maybe I'm finally out of that funk. I only edited a few shots from today, but this is one that I really like. He's a cute little bird, not much bigger than a Quaker Parrot, but so pretty.

I promise, I'll be back to my old self. I just had to slow down a bit. I just have too many things going on all at once.

Golden Lion Tamarin

Since I haven't been out shooting since my Lowry Zoo trip, I'm posting another photo from there.

This is a Golden Lion Tamarin. It's pretty easy to see how he got his name. I like the way he's laying on this log. It makes a good portrait. Believe it or not, this is not desaturated at all; the colors are just the way they came out of the camera. Behind him is a "rock" background and the perch is actually this color.

I like the way the light was hitting his coat. It really shows off the sheen and the color. His expression is kind of sad, though.

I shot this using fill flash (- 1 stop) because of the back light and I wanted to show some detail in his face. I think this technique worked very well and it helped to put some nice catch lights in his eyes.

Crested Seriema

This is another bird from my visit to Lowry Park Zoo. This guy was up above my head on a perch and just looking down checking me out while I was checking him out. It looks like he has the start of a cataract in this eye. The other one is clear, but this one looks a bit cloudy.

He's a rather large bird, probably the size of a Great Blue Heron in height, but much more stout. He seemed friendly enough or maybe just curious, but wouldn't come any closer. I love that little tuft of feathers just above his beak. It adds to his curious expression.

Whenever I'm shooting birds or animals in a zoo, I try not to show signs of a zoo in the background. Not because I'm trying to fool anyone, but because I want the photo as natural as possible. The easiest way to do this is with a wide aperture. I don't open it all the way, because the depth of field would be limited and all the bird will not be in focus; especially when using a telephoto lens. This one was shot at F6.3 and 1/250th. I think it blurred out the background just enough so it doesn't detract from the photo, yet enough so it hid the mesh above his head and behind him.

Unknown Bird Species

My grandson and I went to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL today. One of the first places we visited was the Free Flight Aviary where I spotted this bird.

Usually I take a photo of the signs so I know what kind of bird or animal I'm photographing. Today I didn't bother because Lowry Zoo always had each bird and animal identified on their website. Wouldn't you know, they've changed their website and no longer have photos and names. What a shame! I'd love to know what kind of bird this is.

He's sitting on top of his nest box about to go in. It looks like he might have some feed in his mouth for either the nesting female or maybe even chicks. There are a lot of new chicks at the zoo in the aviary. I refer to this bird as a he since he's so brilliantly colored and most of the time the most colorful is the male.

I made this image using fill flash at -1 stop. It was a little bright so I toned it down in Lightroom. The next time I think I'll use - 1 1/2 stops. I used Aperture Priority at + 1/3 stops at F 6.3 to ensure I'd have enough detail in the bird while blurring out the background and 1/250 shutter speed to stop any action on the bird's part. I used my 55-250mm lens at 250mm.

White Ibis Fighting in the Air

I went to Lowry Zoo today with my friends, Kathy, Gary and Frank. I was lucky enough to spot these two Ibis fighting in the air.

I just held the shutter button down and hoped I caught them. What a surprise when I saw this image!

The squabble didn't last very long, but it was exciting to watch them. Nothing became of it. They just landed and each went their own way.

It's really something; I have flocks of White Ibis in my yard all day, and I go to the zoo to photograph them. :) Actually, we went to the zoo today because it was the first day the baby White Tiger cubs were outside. They're about 2 months old. The mother had a female and male. This shot is of one of them.

You can see the mother here: Aren't they just adorable?

Diamondback Rattler

Ever get a really close look at a Diamondback Rattler's fangs? Well, here's one for you.

Before any of my kids read this a get too excited, this particular one was just yawning and it was in Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL. There are plenty of Diamondbacks here in Florida, and I see a few a year, but I'm not crazy enough to tempt one and get this close--even with my longest lens.

I had a great day at the zoo with a few of my friends from my photo group. We all got some outstanding shots during our visit.

I don't like faking zoo shots for live (in the wild shots) and feel photographers should be honest enough to tell the truth when their photograph was taken in a zoo.

Even though zoo photos are so much easier to get, and it's the only place that one can get more species than they'll see in a lifetime in the wild, I miss the hunt. I think that's the biggest thrill for me--the hunt--then the capture (photographically). Although, some things like this one are nearly impossible to get without putting yourself in harm's way.

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