Most of us have seen these stunning hyacinth macaws in zoos or bird parks many times, and it seems like no big deal to see another one. But this one was taken in the wild in the Pantanal region of Brazil, and that makes it exciting -- at least to me. A mating pair nested in a huge tree near the lodge where my photo tour group was staying, and it was thrilling to see them living in their natural habitat. The shot that I did not get -- but that one of my clients got -- was an elevated vantage of the male and female in flight returning to the tree. I'll hopefully get that in 2018 when I lead another tour to this amazing place. I used a 500mm lens to capture this image, and my settings were 1/800, f/8, 1600 ISO, and I hand held the big lens. The background is a bit busy, but I like that in this case because it shows exactly what the bird's natural environment is.
5 Comments
Dec 3, 2016, 2:28:37 AM
Kerry Boytell - Lovely shot Jim. Did you get any more below, as you have cropped off his tail?
Nov 30, 2016, 10:29:36 AM
Jim - Thanks very much for your concern, Daniel. The fires are 3 hours by car from me.
Nov 30, 2016, 10:11:29 AM
Daniel Reynaud - Hi Jim, I don't know where is your home in TN but I hope that you are safe from the fires.
Nov 29, 2016, 9:52:13 AM
Jim - You're very welcome, Vera. Thanks for appreciating my work. I love photographing blue in nature because -- besides the sky and the ocean -- it's a very unusual color in animals.
Nov 29, 2016, 7:49:55 AM
Vera - Jim. You made my day. Thank you. Is my favorite bird, my favorite color composition is well balance and I am from South America. Thank youuuuuuuuuu.