Zoo reloaded V - Not just at the zoo

Continuing with the stories from the zoo, today we will have something from the whole day and not just the part when we were at the zoo. Although we will move backwards. I think that the photos are worth doing such a move. And, since I am the only member of the committee that take the decisions for the blog, I approve unanimously my idea. My congratulations to me. Thank me.

That's a big lizard. Looks like the Comodo dragon although I think those are bigger. Our walk at the zoo gave me many opportunities for interesting photos.

But what is a lizard without a watermark above? Click on the photos to see the difference on the slideshow.

Before going to the ménagerie, we went to a nice garden with tropical plants. I took many photos there, although this little frog grabbed my attention more.

Here you can see it after the editing. It's nice to see this frog there, as well as all the fish that were in the water. I mean, plants are nice and all, but for me animals are more interesting.

Before leaving home, just in the area of the buildings, I saw this. I couldn't ignore it. I've been trying to get one for a long time, to no avail. I think I should learn more about macro photography.

Because this photo looks great, but it cannot show the details of the magnification. So, I'll have it in mind.

Zoo reloaded II: Pink flamingos edition

After a weekend without internet (that didn't hurt me, I must admit), we're back with more pictures from the zoo. Today's post is dedicated to the pink flamingos that have all this space for themselves, yet they are stuck on each other all the time. Strange birds, but surely beautiful. Here they are:

They like being crowded, what can I say? Maybe because the pond is small?

I guess that it's because of the water. Don't forget to click on the photos to see them as a slideshow. This way you'll see better the details and the watermark.

An albino pink flamingo? A pink flamingo that stayed under the sun a bit too long? We'll never know.

In any case, I like how it looks with the pink head in front but out of focus.

This one is very nice. It's a head but which body is it emerging from? Probably the one on the right. It's nice, anyway.

And now it's even nicer. You know, with the colour enhancing etc.

It seems that for someone who likes wildlife photos but doesn't want to go far, the ménagerie du jardin des plantes is an ideal destination! Just make sure that you have at least one spare battery and plenty of gigabytes in your memory card if you decide to go there with your camera!

Duck tales #2: The revenge

I know that "The revenge" is not a very inspired title for a sequel, but I find it funny anyway. Tonight (or today, depending on where you are) we have three more photos from the Square Du Temple. They are just too good to keep them and enjoy them myself. Such beauty needs to be shared! So, let's begin.

One of the duck portraits I took. I liked it also very much. The patched light on the background isn't affecting much the subject, which is in the shade.

The same fellow, with more live colours and a bit sharper.

I don't know what kind of bird this is. And the fact that it started swimming like a duck, didn't help me much.

Luckily, there is no problem that cannot be solved with some good editing. Although, now that I see it again, maybe I could add some saturation to enrich the colours.

A little waterfall. Although people like to get the milky effect that can be achieved with slow shutter speeds, I prefer to get the water with no motion effect.

And I like the photo a bit sharper too. Beautiful places sure give plenty of photo opportunities.

Also, there is a little bonus today. A video that I took, in the effort to learn the video recording capabilities of the 650D. There's a lot of noise from the lens as it's trying to autofocus and it's clear that autofocus is not reliable when it comes to video, since it takes a lot of time to catch the subject. At least, this is the truth with the telephoto lens. As for the 18-55mm, I have no idea, since the seller hasn't bothered to answer yet. Anyway, here's the video!

Duck tales at Square du Temple

My first day out with the 650D and I had a chance to exercise in a beautiful park with a pond. And what a day that was! I took over 200 photos and I was really excited with the capabilities of the camera. Of course, as a beginner I have nothing to compare it with besides the Android phone, but still, it was a great experience. There were the occasional mistakes, like pictures with too high ISO that produced a very grainy outcome, but they are a necessary part of the learning process.

The whole selecting took a lot of time, mostly because of the pretty old laptop on which I'm doing all the work. Poor thing, it's like loading a bicycle basket with three friends and trying to go to the nearby town. Anyway, I'm giving you four of the photos that made me look at the LCD screen with a wide smile. As usual, first the untouched one and afterwards the edited one.

Is it a totem? A scarecrow? You know, something to scare the birds away. If it is, it's not very successful. But it's nice. Like everything in that little pond and around it.

Here's the same photo, but with some editing. I also used a bit of sharpening but I don't know how well I did. But I'm still learning and practice makes perfect.

A duck gang. They look like a band the way they are posing. As usual, the bassist and the drummer are behind and off focus and the lead singer with the guitarist are in front. Hah! Posers!

Really, if they were a band, what would be their name? The Ducktators? Duck Bang? I guess we'll never know.

This little thing here, I loved it. This specific pose, I mean. I took a few more, but this one made me want to jump in joy.

I love the way it looks and searches. A few meters away, a bunch of pigeons were eating some bread, but this little guy wasn't interested to participate.

Another one that I absolutely loved. A fast shutter speed can make miracles and honestly, most of the times I prefer the perfect stop motion rather than the blur of movement.

When I took the picture, he was flapping his wings rapidly. When they do this, they don't give you much time. It's now or never. The only problem with the photo is that the head is almost at the very center of the frame, breaking the rule of thirds but I don't think that it ruins the result.