Wild Animal Park

[inkista]

Went for the butterfly exhibit, since it was the last weekend. But boy was it crowded. And, btw, catching a butterfly in flight is hard.



Had fun at the Mombasa Lagoon catching captive birds:



And wild ones:


And then a little trip to the nursery to "awwww" at Amara (go Noise Ninja!):

[flash fader 702]

That first photo is amazing! Nice one.

the other are good too but the first is my favorite..

[inkista]

Thanks! That was definitely the hardest one to get, but I was determined since I completely missed out on the butterfly exhibit last year, and the year before, I had only gotten "landed" butterflies. It's kind of hard to get your autofocus to lock on when a) you're shooting something tiny with a telephoto, b) it keeps moving and changing direction, and c) there are always people in the way. I think I was in the enclosure for close to an hour and a half, and I only managed to get a handful of shots of butterflies in flight that weren't motion-blurred or out of focus.

After the butterflies, the birds were sooooo much easier.

[Vinam]

just an amazing butterfly Ink !.. I havn't tried yet, just thinking about the details in the wing patterns and the way they fly thru the air, don't know how many shots it took .. but man that's good !

Love the color of the duck and the reflection and the bird in flight is awesome. I really love the 4th .. Oh what cute little razor sharpe fangs you have kitty cat !! lol ... thanks for showing them !

Vin

[inkista]

I think I dumped about 150 shots for being motion blurred or out of focus or out-of-frame. (I've shot birds in flight for the last couple of years, so I'm used to a 2% keeper rate.) Godbless continuous shooting mode and big CF cards. The Paper Kites (which is what that butterfly is) were the easiest because they were black and white, which helps out the contrast detection of the AF, and they were larger and generally a little slower than the other butterflies, and willing to come very close to people (they were landing on folks). Some of the others were moving a heckuva lot faster:


XT. EF 135mm f/2L USM. iso 1600. f/8. 1/200s.

I'd stopped down and maxed the iso in the hopes of getting a little DoF help on the focusing. As you can see, it didn't really work. I do have to say, though, that the EF 135mm f/2L USM is a surprisingly useful lens at the zoo.

[thegunshow]

Those are really great pictures, I'm so jealous that you live in CA.
What camera do you use?

[lindyannajones]

I was at the Desert Botanical Gardens last week and they, too, had a butterfly exhibit. I spent at least a half and hour and did not get one decent shot. So when I opened your link and saw your butterfly in flight I was so happy for you...and if you believe that, "I have a bridge in NY you might want to buy". Actually, I was so jealous! And begrudingly happy after reading the lengths you went to get your photo. It's wonderful as are your other photos as well. I take heart from your story. One day....

[mstark70]

Birds in flight are hard enough and I am certainly very experienced at blurry shots. So I am a great judge of a fantastic shot for sure! This is just amazing! Absolutely fabulous capture! I can only hope to someday come close. I love all of your shots but #1 is clearly the gold medal winner here. But #2 is certainly second place for me. I love the clarity, the colors, the reflection in the water and the water rings from his beak touching the water. Really great work here one and all. Bravo!!!

[bearly]

wow that butterfly one is amazing! i also really like the reflections in the second one. the other butterfly picture you posted is cool too... i like the motion blur you captured from the wings.

nicely done

[sopons]

Wow...the butterfly one is superb! Man, it's so sharp & clear, and look at the smooth bg. Wonderful shot. Love it.