Contrast

[Big V]

[chrisk]

te first is just beautiful. looks like you did it in a studio.

[DebT]

all very nice but I particularly like #3
Deb T

[gummi]

Agree with the others, the first is as if you could talk to the bird and tell it what to do! Love the way background makes the bird stand out more. Number 3 is great because the bird is almost human in expression - I don't know how you captured that but it's almost like seeing something more than just a picture. Great job

[Big V]

Thanks, shooting at 400 mm and as wide as the lens will allow isolates the subjects really well. The clean backgrounds come from trying to find smooth tones and having the subject away from them.. Fortunately at the wildlife park you are free to use your feet to help with this, it is a different story at the zoo as the cages give little in the way of creativity.

[gummi]

Thanks, shooting at 400 mm and as wide as the lens will allow isolates the subjects really well. The clean backgrounds come from trying to find smooth tones and having the subject away from them.. Fortunately at the wildlife park you are free to use your feet to help with this, it is a different story at the zoo as the cages give little in the way of creativity.

Those are really good tips Big V. I used to fluke alot of nice pictures as using the camera was intially just about trying to get the picture on automatic settings. But taking the bads photos was where I really learnt/thought about how and why the photos come out the way they do, alot of it had to do with learning how my equipment worked, the environment and visualising the picture I wanted. It's obvious from your comments that you already know and do this so I'm actually appreciating the pictures more and more.

In the first picture is, that background just a tree or rock? It seriously looks like those really nice studio background/backdrops, you really nailed it there! I'd be grinning ear to ear if I'd taken a shot like that

[fozzie]

Virgs - #1 stills the show, unusual colour tones that just works

[Big V]

The background in picture 1 is the mesh from the cage that the bird is in - the mesh in front of the bird is sufficiently out of focus to not notice it- another benefit of using the 400 and wide aperture...