Just back from 5 weeks in Australia. A family holiday but did manage to get away several times with the camera. Met up with Paul Burdett for a very nice morning at Oxley Park in Brisbane- always so nice to meet fellow BPN'ers.
Shooting in Oz is not easy. Light gets bright very quickly, beautiful rainforest means birds are perched high up in the 100 foot plus tree canopy and when they are low, they are obscured by thick vegetation and impossible backgrounds. Because of the trees and dense vegetation, the birds always seem to be in the shade. Many birds ( rosellas, cockatoos, swamphens, Lord Howe woodhen, etc ) love to forage on cut grass and lawns which does not make for pretty pictures. Add to this, the need to be careful re: snakes makes for hard shooting. I kept thinking that if I lived there I would have wonderful set-ups and nectar feeders to attract all these wonderful birds.
We spent a week on Lord Howe island which was really amazing for birds and scenery. If anyone is heading to Australia, feel free to PM's for more details.
You would think that finding a kookaburra would be easy in OZ and one hears them "laughing" a lot but getting a pretty image is tough. They love to be on the ground or hidden in the tree foliage. I found this guy at a picnic park near Julatten in FNQ.
Canon 1 DX
100-400mm handheld and shot as a vertical
Almost FF
ISO 800 SS 1/125 f 7.1
Nothing added or cloned
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
Last edited by gail bisson; 04-19-2019 at 06:49 AM.
Thanks for the your detailed observations.
Handsome fellow, great perch, good angle in frame, nice bokeh.
I am thinking fill flash might be my friend in those shooting conditions
I like your composition and framed with such a old weathered tree it looks very good. Also, the specular highlights i think provide another texture too. Nice colors, EXP, and head turn, looking forward to more Australia posts!
I had a look at this a few minutes ago and did not like the way the brown back of the kookaburra was looking grey. So I redid from scratch to maintain accurate colors. This repost is much truer to kookaburra's true color.
Great you could get over here Gail and yes it is challenging, particularly that strong light that I get pinged for frequently. Nice shot of the Aussie icon.
Well done, Gail. I'm sure you were happy to have him land mostly in the shade. Great looking bird and I also like your repost. From your descriptions, it must have been a wonderful trip.
Hi Gail. Welcome home! Lovely shot, and I do prefer the repost. Looking forward to seeing more photos of your trip. I went back to Oxley Creek Common a few days after we were there and the Kookaburras were there en masse, in the path leading up to the gate, but there were few Rainbow Bee-eaters. Cheers.
A nice laughing kookaburra, I think the chunky perch suits the bird. Had to laugh at your description of the conditions, my ever day situation. Of course in FNQ you also have to adjust your shore bird shooting style so as not to be a crocodile's dinner. Randy is right, flash is your friend. Only lived in FNQ for 6 months, but have started to use flash regularly. I used to go to LHI as a kid, but was more interested in the snorkeling. Fabulous place.
Last edited by greg cowle; 04-20-2019 at 04:57 AM.
Reason: typo
Kookaburra
Reply With Quote
