Feathered Friends
Birds are marvelous to photograph.Birds in flight are even more amazing. Getting photos of these beautiful creatures can be challenging, however. You may want to join us for a remarkable one-day, one-of-a-kind photo workshop where you can photograph showy species of birds from far corners of the globe at a training center in western El Dorado County. These birds, from the organization known as Feathered Friends, have flown for audiences at theme parks all over the United States and receive loving care from their trainers. At the moment, however, they can only be viewed here. Although there are dozens of birds here, we will only photograph a few of them.Species include: Andean condor (ten-foot wingspan), the “ugly” marabou stork (also a ten-foot wingspan), several kinds of colorful macaws, Eurasian owl (remarkable orange eyes, much more intense than our North American great horned owl), and the gigantic non-flying bird known as the cassowary, originally from New Guinea. We will photograph the birds in two situations: sitting on a perch against a plain black backdrop so you can get detailed head photos, and we will also have trainers flying the birds. We also will be posing some of the larger birds on a big rock in ideal lighting conditions.
Birds in flight can be really hard to photograph as they move so fast. Ideally, you should have a newer camera capable of fast “frames per second” (FPS) and quick focusing capabilities.Top of the line Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony cameras will work. Even so, there is a substantial failure rate, but that’s what happens with this fast action photography. You will need a telephoto lens of at least 300mm. We will meet for lunch ahead of time at a local restaurant mid day to go over your camera settings and review strategies of bird photography. On-site, the action will happen fast. There we will gather in a flat area so that everyone has great vantage points for photographing the birds, so you only have to do minimal, easy walking. We will be at this location for several hours.
Date: Saturday, November 5, 11:30 to 4 p.m. (11:30 to 12:45 for lunch, 1 to 4 for the photo session.
Cost: