This article features a selection of Bird Kingdom outtakes that were captured during an earlier visit when I was creating images for my 1200mm EFOV Test article. Photographing birds at an indoor facility with a equivalent field-of-view of 1200mm has some limitations, not the least of which is finding subject birds at suitable distances.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
While I was primarily focused on creating images for the previously noted article, I did deviate occasionally when opportunities at 1200 mm efov were sparse, or when something else caught my eye… like the turtle above… and its foot below.
Both of these images were captured through the side of a glass aquarium at a focal length of 150 mm. One of the important features of the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm zoom lens is its short minimum focusing distance of 0.56 metres (~22 inches) on the wide end, which adds some in-field functionality.
The first area to explore at Bird Kingdom is the Expedition Base Camp. There is a modest collection of exotic birds, animals and reptiles from around the world. This area yielded the image above and the next two that follow.
Even though the birds were moving around, I waited for momentary pauses in their movements and used a shutter speed of 1/100. This allowed me to keep my ISO values to a maximum of ISO-4000 in this area of the facility.
I moved on to the small bird aviary where all of the birds are free flying. This area has a broad range of lighting… from some bright side light coming in from large windows… to dark shade in the middle of the display area.
The bird illustrated above was watching me intently as I moved in a bit closer to it. Even with captive subjects it is important to watch for signs of discomfort with a subject bird, and not move in too close to it. This can create some unnecessary stress on a bird. If you look at the EXIF data you’ll see this image was captured with a shutter speed of 1/30 and a focal length of 287 mm (efov 574 mm).
A focal length of 500 mm (efov 1000 mm), with a shutter speed of 1/50th was used to create the photograph above. Capturing images like this one is where the outstanding Sync-IS of the M.Zuiko 150-600 mm zoom lens really shines. This bird kept moving its head so I had to wait for a split second when its head was motionless and in the exact position I wanted.
The bird in the above image was up against extremely dark shade. Using spot metering allowed me to get a good exposure on the bird’s head. This made the background even darker, creating the illusion that this image may have been captured using a flash. Sync-IS was important for this photograph as it was captured at 1/50th with a focal length of 429 mm (efov 858 mm).
The image above was one of my favourites from my visit to Bird Kingdom… even though it was one of my outtakes (i.e. it didn’t fit my shooting criteria for use in my original article). I absolutely loved the intensity in this bird’s posture and gaze.
Sometimes an ultra aggressive crop, leading to the creation of a very unusual visual shape, can really add drama to an image…. as we can see with the photograph above. This is my favourite image from this particular visit to Bird Kingdom.
I finished my visit to Bird Kingdom in the main aviary where most of the larger birds are free flying. Here is a selection of other outtakes from my visit to Bird Kingdom…
As photographers we can ‘be on a mission’ and find ourselves intensely focused on our objective for a particular photographic session. Sometimes to our detriment.
We can inadvertently miss interesting image opportunities when we completely block out other sources of inspiration that may try to find us when we’re out with our cameras.
None of the images in this article met the specific criteria I had set for myself for this particular visit to Bird Kingdom.
That was for me to only use a dedicated focal length of 600 mm (1200 mm efov).
As outtakes, all of these images could have easily ended up in the delete bin as countless others have in the past.
As photographers we are sometimes reticent to share images that missed the specific criteria we had set for ourselves. There may be a feeling that we let ourselves down… and that we have nothing to share with others.
It can be prudent to review some of our work that missed its original mark. We may find some opportunities for personal growth and learning.
And, even if we don’t find those things…. it may be enough to simply share our experiences with others.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured handheld using camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,441 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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