One of the things that I love about facilities like Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls is the variety and character of the birds. Some of them seem to have human-like qualities and I find their faces can be very expressive.

I had the opportunity on Wednesday to visit Bird Kingdom with two of our readers, Don and Janice Berman, and spend a number of very enjoyable hours photographing various bird specimens. My focus with my most recent visit was to get as many tight-in images as I could – bird portraitures – for lack of a better description.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge

Some birds, like the one above, just seem to look happy.

Others can’t seem to help themselves and have a severe, angry expression.

Even when changing angles, dinosaur-like seems to be an apt description.

Sometimes birds pose in almost surreal, abstract positions.

I look for interesting lighting to help accentuate subjects.

And, whenever possible I try to find smooth, unobstructed backgrounds.

Small details like water droplets on a bird’s back…

Or on their beak..

Can add some interest to an image.

I also love to compose images with extremely tight crops resulting in partial faces.

Birds can be very expressive with their facial plumage and capturing one of these moments can make for an interesting image.

My shutter finger finds the combination of bright colours and a pensive pose to be irresistible.

Sweeping bands of colours attract my eye.

As do splashes of bright colours.

Some birds have a cherub-like quality.

And, no visit to Bird Kingdom would be complete unless I practiced my slow-shutter speed hand-holding technique.

Technical Note: All images were shot hand-held in available light. All images in this article were produced from RAW files using my standard work-flow of OpticsPro 10, CS6 and Nik Suite.

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Article and all images Copyright Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication of any kind, or adaptation is allowed without written consent.