Now based on the name, birds would be the main attraction, however there are other surprises in store, such as a whole bunch of Huskies and Malamutes, a Camel (?), a pair of Cheetahs, various farm critters and short clawed otters. The place also features a rather nice tea area, and the hot dogs are actually quite superb....
I'd arrived quite late, about 11.30am, thereabouts. I'd been remiss in waking up as I'd eaten something wrong and didn't feel too good the night before. A nice late wakeup at 9am did the trick though :)
The arena for the bird flights are quite large, and there is a huge scenic valley behind, which is perfect if you can nail the exposure and focus. I would suggest shooting from the right hand side of the stage for the most part, as the sun would be behind you. There is one demonstration with the African Fish Eagle (I could be mistaken on the species) where it swoops down on food in a "pond" - you would be advised to go right up and low to catch the shot. Pre-focus, and hold down the shutter!
I was so happy when they brought out the Eagle Owl for flying. That's my favourite bird! Furball refused to look at the camera when it landed though, so no portrait of it. For the Bird In Flight shots, I relied on the Auto ISO function to manage my exposure - basically allowed it to ramp up to a max of ISO1600, and set a minimum shutter speed of 1/1600 of a second. Aperture was left between F4 and F5.6. This was with the 70-200VR. Stopping down a little bit allows some leeway for the auto focus to be off and yet get the shot reasonably sharp by virtue of depth of field.
One bird they flew and I had few keepers was one of the falcons. The falconer will mention that this bird is one of the fastest birds in the skies, and it shows - at 1/1600 of a second, most of the shots were a blur. If you are shooting there and hear this - up your shutter to at least 1/3000!!! The natural world is so damned amazing, why are people cooped up at home watching telly, boggles the mind.
Now Dynamic AF on the D300 has multiple modes, 9 point, 21 point, 51 point, and 51 point with 3D Tracking. I only used the first two, and it seems that with the birds, 9 point will be the best choice. While 21 point seems to acquire focus faster in general, there will be at times trees behind the birds, and I've had the AF lock on to that with the 21 point. The 9 point seems much more reliable. Oh, also. Disable any form of lens stabilization at such high shutter speeds, I'm pretty sure I've had some shots ruined because of that (grumble experimentation....)
The husky shot above was done with the 300/4 AF-S - with the husky running straight at camera. I love this AF system....
Now apart from the birds, there is another show for reptiles and meerkats.
The meerkat above at feeding time is a joy to watch, and a pain in the ass to focus! They move. Unstoppably. Like a random noise function. There are mealworms placed in strategic places, so you will know where to focus, and when they will arrive.
The otter/farmyard area was uber fun to visit! There were pygmy goats - zero shots of them as they were right up with the visitors - and I can't even focus my lenses :P I'm getting used to the exposure pattern of the D300, and it is amazing. Based on the shoot at Santago, I've tweaked the exposure meter, and now at 0EV it handles most settings! The duck shot above, had all the highlights perfectly preserved. Using the D200 for a shoot on Saturday was rather painful... in terms of exposure.
What a beauty.
The short clawed otters were quite active when I was there about 2pm. The enclosure has glass panels up front, which as usual, annoying for photography but superb for viewing. Thankfully the otter area has a gentle slope upwards towards the rear, and with a 300/4 + 1.4x teleconverter, shots were able to be cropped nicely in-camera.
There are the cheetahs, as mentioned earlier :) There is a barrier around the cheetah's enclosure, so you will have to shoot through green painted wire. This didn't seem too much of an issue with the 300/4 + 1.4x setup, nor for the 70-200VR.
Oh, the camel :) Took me awhile to get a shot in a nice pose.
Aside from the outdoor areas, there are many indoor areas with birds on display.
As well as a lovely reptile area. The water monitor was very accommodating with staying still. ISO 1600 is perfectly good to use!
This post is getting long, so I'll leave with a final image:
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