Photographing birds in perfection or is it? Up close and detailed!
Full screen gallery below
I had the opportunity to go and do some up close bird photography of some interesting species last year. Yes this one is long in the making! It’s because I don’t exactly know what to think of the context I was in. Let me explain. I was at a falconer that had some birds for exhibition and some in care as a shelter. Basically they find birds from zoos, private people or otherwise that want to get rid of these birds. All in all a good thing, right?
Still I struggle a bit as these birds are now sort of commercially used for workshops and photography to fund their work basically. I can’t blame them for doing so, everyone needs to earn a decent meal in the end and that accounts for these birds as well. However you explain it, these birds are in captivity and will never return to nature as they can’t. They don’t know how probably.
So my struggle with this is, is it ok to pay to do these kinds of workshops? Who does actually benefit? How do I give context to these photos as many people (also in this workshop) don’t explain that these photos were taken in a fixed surrounding. Creating the context that it is wildlife photography, while it is not. Still I really like these photos as you can never get so close to these birds, maybe except for hides or birds that are nesting in gardens of people. In that case what is the difference? In the end the latter ones can choose to leave, these birds I photographed cannot or don’t know how.
So while I love these photos and are also a bit proud of these as it was a special experience it still leaves me with the idea that it’s not the real thing. Maybe that is just me as I like to hike in nature and photograph wildlife in its natural habitat. However real nature photos will not be as polished as these, but that is not a bad thing. Anyway, leave a comment below what you think and be respectful to nature and people.
Ow yeah and there was a mouse … not for dinner for Mr. Owl but just because. To capture this one in a creative way was quite difficult. I don’t know if I like these, but still.
So there you have it! All photos shot with the OM-1 and the 150-400F4.5pro and 40-150F2.8 pro lens. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
