Flamingos (Captive Environment)

[skfoo]

I was at the zoo earlier than most Clubsnappers yesterday.

Originally, I wanted to take some pictures of monkeys/gibbons (before Clubsnap Birthday Party started) but ended with these images instead.

These flamingos are pros, they know when to come upfront to pose for the camera.

The first two images shows a flamingo preening. Preening is an act of cleaning and smoothing the feathers.







The third image shows another flamingo roosting. Birds are said to be roosting when they are sleeping or resting while awake.



The last image ..... well the neck of the flamingo can form a beautiful "S" shape.



Cheers!

[Avatar]

Interesting isolation shots SK. It is quite uncommon to see such shots.

[Spectrum]

Pretty nice pics you got there! But, all pics looks pretty dark too. BTW, I don't think I can do that well at the moment. No super-telephoto lenses.

[SniperD]

The 1st one has a lot of potentials... try boosting the levels up alittle.. seems under to me. But somehow if you could use the same orientation as the 4th shot for the 1st, it's a keeper.

the 4th good but too tight of a crop. Agreed with Avatar on the special isolation feeling given to the flamingo.. actually never seen it up so close before to notice their gaze.

[skfoo]

Guys,

Thanks for the comments.

Before the shots were taken, some images went through my mind on the way I would like to portray the flamingos. Two flamingos came upfront (with one looking more pinkish than the other)….. just nice for me to squeeze the trigger.

Have not taken shots in such a relax environment (and with plenty of shades) for a long time. Will revisit the zoo again when opportunity/time permit…….and there are still rooms for improvement on the images.

Of late, the brightness on my PC seems to be a little unstable. I suspect it could be due to faulty graphic card, monitor or calibration. Will need to check it out later tonight.

For now, enjoy the forms and shapes by the all-natural flamingo models.

Cheers!

[skfoo]

I have brightened up image #1, #2 and #3. Hope they looked better now.

Cheers!

[Spectrum]

Hi skfoo,

Correct me if I'm wrong. Are you shooting with a DSLR(what say me)? May I know what metering(matrix, centre-weighted, spot & so on...) you've used for most of this shots? To my knowledge, when shooting at pink flamingo, try to over-expose at least 1 stop. This is because that the bright colour it has will fool your camera metering system(18% grey). Hope that this can help. Just a thought.

[skfoo]

Spectrum,

I shot in RAW format using a Nikon D2H with matrix metering for these images.

If using film, a general rule of thumb would be to over- expose the images by at least 1 stop. But it involved guess work as in how much to over-expose and we have no idea over how much burn-out highlight (in view of the changing lighting conditions) we may get. It takes an experienced photographer to make good judgements.

Through the LCD screen on the D2H, I am able to tell on the spot where and how much highlight will be over-exposed and to choose the preferred settings. No more guess work required. The advantage of shooting in digital format is that it offers me more options in the post processing stages and allows me to tune the exposure closer to the way I saw them.

Thanks for the feedback and happy shooting!

Cheers.

[Spectrum]

But, don't you find that after you've post processing stages the pics & so on, all still look under-exposed on the monitor screen? No offend.

[skfoo]

No problemo. They look okay on my calibrated monitor at home. When viewed through the monitor in my office that is not calibrated, they appear a tad darker.

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by skfoo No problemo. They look okay on my calibrated monitor at home. When viewed through the monitor in my office that is not calibrated, they appear a tad darker.

New Avatar liao huh ?

No wonder you disappeared that day !

Good shots there....don't tempt me further...heh heh.

[skfoo]

These birds are located in an area where some monkeys/gibbons reside. The environment is very noisy (which is why I missed the sms) but plenty of shades around. We should visit the zoo again as there are plenty of close-up and action shot opportunities…..cold drinks (and air-con) are just a few minutes walk away.

It seems that we need to recce some places near the longkang (where Avatar visited recently). Purple feeding rings a bell? Interested?

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by skfoo These birds are located in an area where some monkeys/gibbons reside. The environment is very noisy (which is why I missed the sms) but plenty of shades around. We should visit the zoo again as there are plenty of close-up and action shot opportunities…..cold drinks (and air-con) are just a few minutes walk away. It seems that we need to recce some places near the longkang (where Avatar visited recently). Purple feeding rings a bell? Interested?

Purple !! My favourite colour and bird ! Have yet to capture a purple heron with a big fish in mouth !

I've already thought of going to that swamp place at 5am to hide myself so that i can get that morning feeding shots of a Juvenile Purple Heron which we missed last saturday.

That longkang place offers alot of shooting opportunity...too bad we only can have 12 hours of shooting time....

So is Garion going to prepare icy cold lemonade or is it ESPN duty ? Since they are the 2 new members of that longkang location.