8 March 2009
We returned today to the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve. The highlight was a sighting of several “resplendent quetzals.” These are large, colorful birds; the males can have trailing plumage that extends about a half meter behind their bodies. We saw 5-6 individuals in this one area. There was some flying about and some minor fighting between males. All quite exciting.
Photographing the quetzal was another matter. The photo at left shows the best I could do with my 3× zoom. (See the center of the frame.) Ingrid and Daniela did a bit better, but not much. However, the quetzal sightings drew quite a bit of attention from people on the trail and that made for a better photographic image (see right).The “shooting fish” reference comes from our return to the hummingbird gallery. A few weeks ago, I took photos using 3× plus flash on my camera. Today, I borrowed Ingrid’s handheld Panasonic, which has 10× optical zoom plus digital image stabilization. With the ISO set at 800 to maximize shutter speed, I was able to get several terrific photos of hummingbirds at rest using native light. These came out much better than the earlier ones. (The photo at the top is the best.) When I show off these new hummingbird pictures to Ingrid and Daniela, Ingrid’s response is, “yeah, but that is like shooting fish in a barrel!”
No comments:
Post a Comment