Jurong Bird Park

Yesterday, the family (including my parents-in-law) went to visit the Jurong Bird Park. For those who don't know what it is all about, it is basically like a Zoo but for birds only. Several species of birds are caged up but most are free ranging and stay around because of the enviroment and food.

So I was happy for 2 reasons, firstly my son got to visit the birds (especially the Penguins) and I got a chance to finally try out my Canon 450D outside the house.

For this outing, I brought along my EF-S 18-55mm and EF-S 55-250mm lenses squeezed them in the EOS bag I got for free (it was a tight fit but they all went in) and a tripod (which was useless because it was too flimsy).

So I learnt alot from this outing and have a better understanding of my camera. So here are the shots for your enjoyment.

Here is a Scarlet Macaw which was part of the bird show. There were a few on the stage and were people were allowed to photography them. I suppose they are so used to people that getting close to them was very easy although after awhile they got bored and flew around.


Here are two photos of the same Ostrich. I saw 3 of them but only 2 were really "up close and personal" the other was busy laying 2 eggs. I chose these 2 because it was looking directly at me and also each has a different DOF as you can see.



Next up is a Pelican. I am not sure which species it is but apparently, the Bird Park as all 7 species of Pelicans. This was relatively easy to shoot as there was lots of sunlight and this bird is big!


A shot of the "Wetlands waterfall". This is my first time trying the "smoky" effect of moving water. This was a little challenging because it was a very sunny day but this waterfall was in very dense shade and about 50-70meters away and I did not have a reliable tripod so I had to make use of a handrail to steady the camera and tried a few settings before getting this.


Ok...now for some action shots at the Bird Show. There were seveal birds performing but the Macaws were the highlight of the show with them fly through hoops around the Amphitheatre.




Here both Macaws are entering the same hoop...don't worry...they did not crash into each other.


Finally here, you see a Macaw crashing into a piece of rice paper.