Abejarucos (Merops apiaster)

Lannie, that group is filled with very nice fellows and have some pics of their setups in their folders if you nose around. Typically it consists of a pre-determined perch where birds are lured with food, and of a blind (camo netting/brush) to hide in with the camera and a flash unit. Two other remotely-controlled flash units are set up to fire with the master, camera-mounted one, too aimed at the perch for an overall effect of even lighting.

 

I set up a similar rig with their advice, using a hunting blind from Cabelas.com. I used Nikon gear, a D70 with an SB-800 as a master with two SB-600s. The SB-series works together wirelessly via IR signals, so no transmitters are necessary if you stick with their gear.

 

Best part for me was not actually having to buy a 500mm - a 300mm f4, when you're 15 feet away hidden in a blind, or coupled with a 1.4x teleconverter, is plenty.

 

Of course, I still want a 500mm:)

Thanks, Chris. I should do a bit more digging before I start asking for advice, but info on your setup is very helpful. We have a lot of wild turkey around here, and I would really like a long lens to get them during the mating ritual, with the tail feathers spread out like those of a peacock. I wonder if it is illegal to bait wild turkey. . . .

For this photo there's a good chance that food wasn't used or needed. These are bee-eaters... naturally inclined to perch and preen, or perch and scope out flying insects. Some bird species can be induced to use a perch just by setting up a nice branch in the right locale.

Blagoy Tsenkulov, May 11, 2005; 04:20 A.M. wrote:

Pretty shot, indeed, but compare it to this one. That's the difference between a masterpiece (Wilson's work) and a simple decorative photo. Regards. Blago

 

Blagoy, let me explain why I disagree. I think most observers will see this picture as finely crafted through painstaking preparation. And if I may draw a comparison with a pathetic picture of mine, the difference is that I attempted to artistically bring my picture to life through post manipulation, whereas Francisco brings his photo to life through craft alone. The picture you sited, while interesting and tells a story, is nothing more than a chance shot reflecting limited skill set required. Does it matter? Probably not, except in the context of this site where the emphasis for most of us is on the learning of the craft, the art of bringing ones craft to life, and the sciences of and about photography.

Michael Chang

 

Michael, I'm not going to argue what's more important -- form or essence, craft or chance, science or art, eye or mind, common sense or emotion, and so on. All of them matter and all of them could be improved. Even the chance. (See, I'm going with a bear to the beach and the probability to frame it with a naked lady trying to photograph it is greatly increased. :-)) I like this picture. It brings to me visual pleasure, but I like far more the other picture because it offers me also a mental pleasure and (at least for me) such a combined impact is much stronger, than the beauty of the visual only. Regards. Blago

The picture is amazing (far from my skills) and congratulations for the POW. Still, I will agree with Blagoy 100%. The picture is beautiful but provides no mental stimulus. This is only my personal opinion but in a world where almost all the pretty pictures have been made in order to get involved I need something more. It is like seeing a painting from a master of the 17th century. They are usually technically impressive and one can apreciate them under the light of the era in which they were created. Still, in order for a painting, photograph or anything to really "talk" to me it needs to carry a mental stimulus compatible with the era I am living and the world I am seeing. All this does not mean that I want to underestimate the truly excellent technical capabilities of the photographer

Very nice shot!

Wonderully composed: Shows colors + completeness

"i am also perplexed that a 50-500mm lens would get any sort of award. that's sort of like giving a sports equipment prize to something meant to serve (at 20% effectiveness) as both a tennis racket and hockey stick. great fun for your 5 year-old kids, but not..."

 

If somebody won eg Wimbledon using this device and/or the hockey world championship, I believe an award would be well deserved - for both the device and the user - who is the one who actually received the award here.

 

Personally I think this was the most informative POW discussion in a long time, because I learned about a type of photography I had been unfamiliar with. Both the goal to capture wild birds in a way that resembles a studio shot, and the hightech, hands-on way to tranlate this into reality appear pretty unique to me, and seem different from the way most people approach bird photography. But then I am not an expert in bird photography in general, so I might be wrong.

Frank, I believe it won an award for precisely what Vuk criticizes it for - being a tennis racket AND a hockey stick. Glass is always half empty for some, I guess.

Gracias a todos por sus comentarios, igualmente gracias a PHOTO.NET por elegir esta foto como foto de la semana, es un gran honor para mi.

Esta foto ha sido realizada con aves en total libertad y en plena naturaleza salvaje. Es el resultado de 2 meses de trabajo preparatorio junto a mi buen amigo Angel Pulido (gracias Angel por tu buen hacer y tu gran tenacidad). Durante 4 semanas, Angel y yo hemos preparado y estudiado el lugar donde los abejarucos vendrian a vivir. Una vez que llegaron necesitamos 2 semanas mas hasta que los avejarucos se acostumbraron al lugar y durante las 2 semanas siguientes ha sido cuando hemos realizado estas fotos, solucionando los problemas que iban surgiendo.

 

Ya que son unas aves con muchos colores y especialmente bellas, decidimos hacer no solo unas fotografias con el ave muy cerca, sino adem᳠a�adir un toque artistico seleccionando un fondo y una orientacion a la luz solar lo mas favorables posible y compensar con luz de flash las sombras duras. Esto requirio varias tardes de prueba en varios posaderos posibles, que despues las aves podrian tomarlos o no. Por suerte este posadero si lo tomaron como suyo.

 

Esta foto se ha realizado tal y como dice Juan Daza en su comentario (gracias Juan por tu comentario aclaratorio y tu traduccion al ingles del mismo), aunque en esta ocasion solo se ha usado un flash por el lateral izquierdo para compensar las sombras. Al ser las primeras horas de la ma�ana los tonos rojos y ocres han salido mas acentuados (colores calidos) ello ha ayudado a conseguir una escena equilibrada con el fondo. El punto de enfoque se encuentra en las plumas del centro de las aves, las cuales son muy espectaculares, dejando en un segundo plano las cabezas, con miradas opuestas que se pierden en el infinito dando sensacion de embelesamiento. La posicion de las aves da sensacion de simetria sin ser simetrica, he usado un diafrgma lo mas abierto posible para desenfocar al maximo el fondo, este fondo es el talud de arena y barro de un cauce de rio. Pienso que la foto transmite de una forma artistica el amor de estos dos pajaros en celo, en pleno cortejo nupcial. Para mi es una escena calida y relajante y por supuesto el resultado de un trabajo duro.

 

No puedo traducir este texto al ingles pues no hablo nada de ingles, pero estaria muy agradecido si alguien que hable las dos lenguas fuera tan amable de traducirlo.

 

Mi mas sincero agradecimiento a PHOTO.NET y a todos por vuestros comentarios y colaboracion.

Mi enhorabuena Paco, este es el fruto de tanto trabajo y dedicacion. Yo, al igual que Juan Daza, puedo dar fe de que son aves fotografiadas en total libertad, fuera de cualquier reserva natural o parque; tambien se de primera mano el esfuerzo y dedicacion, asi como la cantidad de horas y dias, que tanto tu como Angel Pulido, habeis dedicado en la preparacion de esta serie de fotografias. Y ademas de tu generosidad y la de Angel, de compartir vuestro esfuerzo y dedicacion con varios amigos, entre los que tengo el orguyo de encontarme. Nuevamente enhorabuena y que esta no sea tu ultima foto de la semana. Un fuerte abrazo.

Paco quise decir "orgullo de encontrarme", saludetes.

I don't have time to offer a full translation of Francisco's comments, but several points do strike me as relevant to our preceding discussions.

 

He first of all thanks everyone for commenting, and to PN for granting him the honor of Photo of the week. He also thanks his friends Angel Pulido and Juan Daza (presented above as Daza Juan) for assistance, in the former case (Angel) for helping with the preparations and execution of the photos, and in the latter case (Juan) for helping to explain the photo in his absence. He and Angel did the preparatory and exploratory work for about a month and spent another two weeks getting the birds accustomed to their presence, and yet another two weeks taking the shots, trying to frame them against good natural backgrounds.

 

He does note in this particular case, however, that only one flash was used from the left side to balance the natural lighting, which was lit by a warm light from the early morning sun. He emphasizes that he wanted to capture the birds artistically in the middle of their courtship, and that the result was, in his estimation, a warm and relaxing shot.

 

He also says that he used the maximum aperture possible in order to throw the background out of focus, with the focal plane ("point," literally) being in the middle of the feathers on their backs.

 

There are other details, but no more of a techinical nature.

 

Thanks again, Francisco, and to your friends Angel and Juan. This was truly a great shot, and it has been a great week for discussion and learning on Photo.net.

"He does note in this particular case, however, that only one flash was used from the left side to balance the natural lighting...."

 

well, i guess that explains why they look like stuffed/fake birds to scott (and at least one other member). btw, the "only one flash" apology is brilliant bit of spin. lannie, if the photo business doesn't work, there's always stand-up comedy.

 

it's still an effective picture in many ways, though a sense of irony must be assumed, even if not intended by the photographer.

You'd make a great standup comic, Vuk. Cheers

Gracias Lannie Kelly por tu traduccion.

A great POW. Interesting as well to find out about all of the hard work and preparation that went into getting this shot. Well done Francisco.

Let me suggest to you that you take this to your photo editor and zoom it larger. Then take your cloning tool and clean up the edges around the birds somewhat. In particular the blue spot on the bottom left bird. Also compare the direction of the light in the background to the light on the birds. I have replaced backgrounds in photos. Its an easy matter to use the selection tool and put in a new background for the remainder. The trick, I think, is to get a background that matches the foreground as well as containing some middle ground.

 

This photo, to me, appears flat because there is no middle ground. It seems like a two dimensional painting, perhaps.

 

Cute birdies.

Margaret, if these guys spent a month setting up the site in a natural environment, and then worked so hard to get the background wild and natural, I think that the last thing that they would want to do is to paste in another background with Photo.shop.

 

I am not opposed to using PS for doing such things, but NEVER if the attempt is to capture something in the wilderness. The wilderness is a sacred place to me. These are not hothouse birds, and Francisco and friends are apparently not interested in hothouse birds. If they were, then they could have surely found an easier way to present a totally artificial picture than spend two entire months in the wild.

 

I would even ask why the need for a flash, if one really wants to achieve a truly natural look. Sure, the flash evens out the lighting, but light in nature does not look like studio lighting. I think that that is part of what Vuk is saying above about the irony of this photo.

 

Still, I think that it is a remarkable photograph, and very worthy of PoW.

what is wild and natural about this background, Lannie? Give your head a shake. Let me again suggest to you to zoom this in your photo editor.

I wonder about this?

Independientemente de la calidad incuestionable de la fotografia de mi amigo Paco, yo pretendo aportar con esta foto (muy mala pero aclaradora) una cuestion para nosotros muy importante, el trabajo previo y las condiciones en que se realizo la fotografia, esta realizada dias despues, Paco esta dentro y yo la he realizado desde otro escondite distante, muestra la misma situacion con distinto posadero. el escondite mide 1m x 1m esta fabricado con ca�as y cubierto con una red de camuflaje y ramas, estar en esta situacion es muy duro pues practicamente no te puedes mover, el calor es fuerte y las sesiones suelen ser de entre 3 y 4 horas, todo esto si no le da mas valor al resultado final de la fotografia si refleja la diferencia en cuanto a las condiciones con respecto a realizar la misma toma en condiciones de cautividad. Yo no tengo nada en contra de las fotografias realizadas en condiciones de cautividad, pero prefiero siempre que sea posible al igual que mi amigo Paco realizar las fotos en estado salvaje, siempre es un reto y reflejan una realidad dificil de captar en condiciones de cautividad. Espero que la traduccion sea facil de entender pues esta realizada con un traductor informatico, perdon por los errores y gracias por vuestro tiempo e interes.

PD: Felicidades una vez mas Paco, tu te lo mereces y la foto es extraordinaria.

 

 

Independently of the unquestionable quality of the photography of my friend Francisco, I try to contribute with this photo (very bad but aclaradora) a question for very important us, the previous work and the conditions in which I am made the photography, this made days later, Francisco is inside and I have made it from another distant hiding place, shows the same situation with dista branch where to settle the birds. the hiding place measures 1m made x 1m this with canes and place setting with a branch and camouflage net, to be in this situation is very hard then you cannot practically be moved, the heat is strong and the sessions usually are of between 3 and 4 hours, all this if it does not give but value him to the final result of the photography if it reflects the difference as far as the conditions with respect to making the same taking in conditions of captivity. I do not have anything against the photographies made in conditions of captivity, but I prefer whenever it is possible like my friend Francisco to make the photos in wild state, always is a challenge and reflect a reality difficult to catch in conditions of captivity. I hope that the translation is easy to understand then this made with a computer science translator, pardon by the errors and thanks for your time and interest.

Condiciones de trabajo.... Conditions of work....

Las dos fotografias son iguales porque pense por error que la primera no se veia, pues en el texto de los comentarios sobre la foto no la veia, pero al mirar en el foro veo que si, perdon....

 

The two photographies are equal because I thought by error that first did not see, because in the text of the commentaries on the photo it did not see it, but when watching in the forum I see that if, pardon....