Blue Morpho #2

   The Butterfly without a doubt has to be the most delicate creature there is.  As a child, I collected insects for my 4H Entomology exhibit.  Some of my most prized additions were butterflies.  And you strived to have the most perfect specimen you could find.You tried to capture one that didn't have rips or tears in the wing or missing parts of the wings and you also wanted ones that had no missing scales on the wings. I don't have an insect collection anymore but instead collect them with my camera.  

     Now that there are Butterfly Houses, it's easier than ever to get nice pictures of butterflies.  You still have problems getting those perfect specimens, but with a photo editor like Photoshop, it's easy to fix some of it with the clone tool.  The clone tool  has quickly become my favorite tool in Photoshop.   The best brush I have found to do the job is the soft round brush.  One of the things I love about the Butterfly Houses is that instead of just seeing butterflies that are native to your area, you get to see butterflies from all over the world.  Also, the butterflies seem more tame in a Butterfly House and you can really get some nice close up looks at some of these beautiful creatures.

  Prints and other products featuring this photo can be purchased at my gallery on PIXELS

 

 Don't Mess With Me!

     There has been an often heated debate as to what the correct definition of Wildlife Photography is.  Some will say it's any photo of a wild animal.  Others will say it has to be a photo of a wild animal in it's natural habitat.  As much as I would LOVE to take an African Safari, I have neither the time, money or equipment to do that. The comment I get the biggest laugh out of is that some do not consider zoo photography wildlife photography because it is too easy to get pictures of wild animals.  Okay, photos of animals yes, really great photos of animals, that can be a challenge.  Often you have to shoot past bars or shoot through glass.  It's almost impossible at times to get a photo of the whole animal without something in the background giving it away that it was shot at a zoo.  Also, zoos are often open only during the hottest months of the year and it's often  too hot for the animals and they spend most of their day sleeping in the shade somewhere.  I have come to the conclusion that if I can walk away from a zoo visit with at least one or two really good shots, then it was a good day.

      Through my blog I will try to give you tips and ideas on how to get great animal photos.  I would like to start with this one of Tango looking all bad and fierce. This photo was taken using the continuous shooting mode.  In this mode you focus, and then press and hold the Shutter button and the camera will continue to take photos until you release the button.  This is actually one in a series of shots of Tango yawning.  But, this particular shot looks like it doesn't even belong in that series of shots.  So, sometimes you can walk away from the zoo with something totally unexpected!   One thing to remember when using the continuous shooting mode is that if your subject is moving a lot, it's better to take a short burst of photos and then refocus and then take another short burst of photos.     

Prints and other products featuring this photo can be purchased at my gallery on  PIXELS