Red and Green Macaw in flight

[cr_wildlife]

This image was taken at the Baraca das Araras in Mata Gross Do Sul, Brazil. The baraca is a sink hole measuring 500 feet in diameter and 328 feet deep. A group of Red and Green Macaws nests in the caves in the sides of the sink hole. They spend much of their day roosting at the baraca, leaving only to feed. Thus, one can get great photos of them flying around the rim and across the sink hole by standing on the two platforms that have been built on the rim. Late in the day, a shadow is cast on one side of the rim, but the sun continues to shine over the top of rim. allowing photos like this to be taken. The macaw is still in the sun, but the cliff behind it is in deep shadow. I found these shots to be extremely difficult with regards to exposure

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settings. I had thought that if I simply used manual exposure and set the camera for the light on the cliff still in the sun, I would get the macaw exposed properly with the shadowed cliff very dark. To my dismay, the exposure settings were not so easy. However, with persistence and a lot of fooling around with exposure settings, I was able to get a few shots likes this one. I hope you like it!

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

I certainly like it - and yes - these big birds with long tails isnt quite as easy as one would have thought. Big bird - easy capture - not always. I guess you could still see some details in the shadows (which the camera couldnt really. I think a little details would have given it some reference. But regardless - this is a really nice photo.

 

[cr_wildlife]

Thank you very much, Elsa! The background was, indeed, very dark and what little detail that showed was just a few pale highlight streaks that I thought were distracting! I do very much appreciate you comment, though. Made me go back and take a look again!