I Dreamed of....Something

During this time of year, I begin to dream of far away and exotic places.  Of course exotic doesn't always mean tropical:)

So like many, I start throwing ideas out there on where I'd like to go.  The list is long and the money is little.  On a tight tight budget, I could afford Central America which would allow for some fun birding, plant and overall wildlife photography.

Of course Africa is always there as is Asia as is South America.  Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia.....

So I had gone to the zoo to practice and observe elephants and birds earlier this year.  Granted, I'm not one for zoos but when I'm looking for some practice on different subjects, I head over there.  Mostly all of the photography on this blog is real wildlife discovery(98 percent of it anyhow) but the reason behind going to a zoo is to study behavior so that I can track the critter and get the shot down the road in the wild.  And I find a lot of joy in the observation.

When I'm out in the field, I get only one chance and this was important to note for myself from previous work.  Sometimes when I find the critters, I take the shots but they weren't what I had wanted because I hadn't thought about how I was going to set up the shot.

So for example, the peacocks.  Do I get the head shot?  Or do I do the full body?  With the longer lens, it can be tricky.  The head is in focus while the body is out of focus or vice versa.  And of course the lighting is always a challenge here in the desert.

So I decided to work on feather detail because I had time to organize my thoughts.  With the elephants, I worked on the dust bathing and wrinkles, etc.

So hopefully this will make me better at tracking and making a better photo composition.

And while doing all of this, there is the wildlife interacting with the zoo animals.  That also allows for some on the spot practice.  Grackles grabbing human food and snacks on the ground.  I'll say it again.....people are pigs.  Thankfully many birds thrive off of human nastiness.

But the bigger question, with funding being tight and budgeting a big factor, where or where will I go?

More tomorrow....