birds, skies, gumballs, and me

some K10D shots from the past couple of weeks:













the last one was actually kind of tricky. it's tough to get into that position in 10 seconds without sending anything else flying.

[Alvin]

Those bird head shots are awesome! How'd you get so close?

The other shots hold their own respect to the bird shots too. Great colour, excellent composition!

10 seconds to run from the camera and get yourself cool calm and collected...hahaha yeah that's tough considering what position you had to put yourself in

A great collection!

[Evolution]

thanks alvin. both of those raptors are actually wounded and cannot be rehabilitated for release into the wild. the hawk lives at the brevard zoo, and the eagle is the primary ambassador for the Birds of Prey Center in Orlando, FL. i'm not sure exactly what happened to the hawk, but i know the eagle has lung scarring, i think from some chemical incident. she gets worked up just hopping from the ground on to her perch and cannot fly long distances.

most of the birds at the center are behind cages, but there are a handful of people-friendly birds which spend the day perched along a walkway which runs next to the visitors' center... hawks, eagles, and owls. there are locked gates at either end of the walkway, but the bars are wide enough apart that a person can get some great shots. paige (the eagle) is closest to the front gate, hence the closeups.

[Wethphotography]

Stunning. How fortunate to have that sanctuary--from a photographer and birdlovers point of view
The colors on the gumballs are vibrant. Was the last shot lit by an overhead light or did you bounce a flash? You have good catchlight in your eyes.

Thanks for sharing.

[-=JoN=-]

I like the raptor shots.....nicey

[clarenceclose]

Fine variety and selection of shots.
Excellent raptors and the others are very vibrant.
I envy you the ability/flexibility to get into position in 10 seconds for the self portrait.

[Evolution]

thank you for all the kind comments. sometimes i feel like i should focus on one particular type of photography for a while, but i really enjoy the variety. the photo-a-day project keeps me on my toes. it's incredibly difficult to attempt thematic continuity when you're trying to get one good shot everyday.

erl, fortunately for me there is a fan light centered on the ceiling of that room, so i was lit from just about directly overhead. it worked out.

[vievetrick]

very nice shots.

[foxglove]

Wonderful raptor shots, you got great feather detail.

Is there some deep significance to your clock reading 00:00?

Julie

[PentaxFan]

Wow....those are some super shots! Nice

[Evolution]

Originally Posted by foxglove

Wonderful raptor shots, you got great feather detail.

Is there some deep significance to your clock reading 00:00?

Julie

hah... i think you're the only person who's picked up on the clock. i just wanted to convey that i'm always struggling to write things. with an actual time on the clock it would be more like a capture of an actual moment as i'm attempting to write. i think changing the clock to read 00:00 makes it more of an overall representation of me... rather than just a specific moment. at least that's what i was going for. and thanks for the compliment on the feather detail. i'm actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of the sigma 70-300 (apo dg model). people are quick to knock the budget teles, but if you know its limitations (don't shoot wide open, don't expect stellar corner-to-corner sharpness), the sigma's a definite steal at ~$200. The Pentax 60-250/4 looks so tempting on paper, but with the anticipated price it would need to be a huge quality leap to justify an upgrade... for me at least.