This morning headed off with my camera, stopping only to pick up another photog friend along the way. Together we headed to Nga Manu Nature Reserve. What I like about the reserve is that there are walk in aviaries. This allow us to access the birds without obstacles in front of them like cage netting. The red-crowned kakariki in these images are all males that are being kept in captivity for a variety of reasons. The main one being that they are not genetically pure, so can’t be allowed to breed. The keeper was giving a talk while we were there so we heard lots of facts about the birds at Nga Manu.
I really enjoy focusing close up on these birds with the sunshine at the back. It gave beautiful bokeh in the background and shows the feathers perfectly on the birds. Some of them are still going through their moults, so look a little scruffy. I like to think of these close ups as my signature style. The reality is, I like how the camera can capture details that even my eyes can’t see. Once I get the images into my processing software it is like I am seeing a whole new picture to the one I saw through the lens. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed taking them.
