Early last month my family and I spent some time with relatives in California. We made a side trip to this wildlife preserve/park near Santa Rosa, and it gave me the opportunity to try my hand at bird (and mammal) photography.


Lesser flamingos




Scarlet macaw




And a decidedly odd bird, the Cape Thick Knee

[charliezap]

I like the shot of the macaw. Very colorful.--charliezap

[Frogfish]

#1 doesn't work for me as there is no strong focal point but I love #2 - looks like the bird is on a space station looking down on earth ! #3 is a nice portrait but don't be frightened to use you pop-up flash for a little fill light - even at 10m it may be enough to take the shadows off the face.

You did a good job keeping the environment out of the shots - which is always key when shooting in such locations.

[NbyNW]

charliezap and Frogfish, thank you both for taking the time to look. I'm glad you enjoy the macaw photo as much as I do - seems to be a favorite with many people I've shown these to.

Your point is well taken on the flamingo shot, Frogfish. I think it's easy for me to see what the point of interest was as I was the photographer - not so much for anyone else. I have another shot that concentrated much more on just one of the birds. Perhaps I'll post that one sometime.

I'm torn about the idea of using flash in the 3rd photo. These birds were huddled beneath some very thick shrubs and would cautiously move just slightly into the light now and then. So on one hand I liked the mix of light and shadow, on the other I wanted to light them up a bit, but not startle them into retreating further under the brush.

Again, thanks for the comments and critiques; both are much appreciated