Bird of the Day: Mexican Sheartail – Female (Celestún, Mexico)
Nature Photography
Beyond the Fringe
We’ve been having amazing tiger sightings at our Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve workshop.
I captured this cub during the evening safari at Magdi zone. It was a real beauty. We saw it along with the other cub. Later it came on to the road and the other Jeep got some amazing shots… Continue reading
Bird of the Day: White-backed Vulture
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Cats In The Ghats
Whether wild or domesticated, cats are unique in their ability to compel. If you are a cat person, you know that to be true. If you are not a cat person, you probably also know it to be true. Here in the Western Ghats region of south India, we take cats to be among our most important beneficiaries of whatever tangible outcomes we can generate through our entrepreneurial conservation initiatives. Mainly we are focused on initiatives with the Periyar Tiger Reserve, but on the lookout constantly for more opportunities. Earlier this year we started tracking Panthera because of these interests. Their website (click the logo to the left), and the mission as stated here, are worth revisiting from time to time:
Panthera’s mission is to ensure the future of wild cats through scientific leadership and global conservation action. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Tropical Kingbird (El Cuyo, Mexico)
Bird of the Day: American Robin
Endo Valley, CO
Bird of the Day: Pied Kingfisher
Mysore, Karnataka
New CUBs Challenge: Fascinating Feathers
As of this week, the latest Celebrate Urban Birds challenge is up and running! Called Fascinating Feathers, this multi-media competition is designed to get you thinking about the most defining feature of birds — their plumage.
Whether you’re out shooting video of a Herring Gull at the beach getting disheveled by a buffeting wind, taking a photo of puffed-up chickadees at the bird-feeder from your porch, writing/recording a poem or story about the down that keeps you warm in the winter, or painting plumes floating in the ether, we want to see what you can say about feathers from the world around you!
With categories for Best Camouflaged, Best Dressed, Most Bizarre, and Most Functional, you’ll have different ways to frame your work and share it with us and other participants; on January 15, 2014 we’ll close the contest and begin reviewing submissions to select award-winners. Prizes include Opticron binoculars, Pennington bird feeders, bird sound CDs, waterproof bird foldout guides, and more!
Check out the challenge homepage
or
Read the Lab of Ornithology’s press release on the challenge
Bird of the Day: Common Raven Doing Barrel Roll (Mount Roberts Trail, Alaska)
Bird of the Day: Great Tinamou
Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama
Bird of the Day: Blue-tailed Bee eater (Kukkarahalli Lake, Mysore)
Bird of the Day: Black-necked Stilt (Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Mexico)
Bird of the Day: Lark Bunting
Pawnee National Grassland, CO
Asiatic Elephants in the Dhikala Grasslands
Corbett National Park is a great place to make some great images of Asiatic Elephants and May is an especially good season to be there. The Dhikala grasslands complements the elephants by providing a great background for your photography.
A zoom lens in the 100-400 or 80-400 range serves best for this area as it provides flexibility to make close-ups or to include the habitat in the shot.
While composing this image I waited for the baby elephant to show itself as it was always behind its mother. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Brahminy Kite
Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, Karnataka
Capturing Falling Waters
During my recent trip to Chikmagalur, I visited this small waterfall in Jerry estate which offered a good opportunity to try out various compositions. Unfortunately I wasn’t carrying my vario ND filter so couldn’t get a slower shutter speed than this, but since I’ll be going back there in December I’ll know to be better prepared.
In many circumstances people say that “location is everything”, and that definitely was the case with this waterfall. The maximum depth of the pool at it’s base was probably 2 ft, so we could walk around and check various angles to shoot from with very little risk. The fact that there was no heavy current allowed us to easily stand in the flowing water to get low-level shots. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Squirrel Cuckoo (Los Cedros Reserve, Ecuador)
Igor Siwanowicz Photography
Prepare to have your mind completely blown by award-winning insect photographer Igor Siwanowicz. No artist captures the details like Igor Siwanowicz does with his distinct form of microscopic photography. Every little bump and crack is accentuated, and every color shines brighter in Siwanowicz’s pictures — Fittingly, this style seems catered to capturing the strange exotic insects that inhabit the world. Siwanowicz is not limited to just insects though, his portfolio is complimented by equally as impressive stills of reptiles, mammals, and even people. One should especially note how often symmetry comes to play in the photographs.
Bird of the Day: Cinnamon Becard
Gamboa, Panama
Bird of the Day: Indian Roller
Bangalore, Karnataka
