Bird Photography Class

I spent 3 hours in a bird photography class at Kalamazoo Nature Center on Saturday.  The class was taught by Josh and Dave Haas who are nature photographers.  If you have time check out their website and amazing photography (Glances at Nature).  

The class was not about spotting birds in the wild for photo opportunities but rather all the components that go into making your photographs better.  They spent one on one time with us and our individual cameras.  I learned a lot about the manual functions of my camera which was exactly what I was hoping for.  

I have a better understanding of aperture, ISO, etc.  But I am still in the baby stages of learning.  The best thing about this is that now I am excited to learn more.  For the next few weeks I am taking an SLR digital camera class at a camera shop in Kalamazoo.  

We had the opportunity to photograph two birds.  I liked the photos better of the screech owl above the best.  To me the lighting was better.  This barred owl was magnificent but I wished my photos would have shown his eyes better... although, I still like the photos.   

This photo above is my favorite of the barred owl.  I love the way the light is shinning on her face and I love the look of the stump she is perched on as well as the back ground colors.  Click on photo to enlarge for a better look.  

And just so you don't think we walked into the woods and came upon these beautiful owls in the wild I posted this photo for you. These owls live at the nature center and were injured in car accidents.  They both have neurological injuries that do not allow them to be released back into the wild.  They are used in many of the centers teaching programs.  Josh and Dave were kind enough to bring them outside into their natural environments so we could have an amazing photo shoot with them.