Quick Shot: Captive Audience

Last week I had to take a quick trip to Atlanta to tend to a family emergency. I knew I wouldn't have time to dedicate to photography, but I also knew it'd be my luck to see two bald eagles in a mariachi band if I didn't brink my camera.... so camera came along.

Turns out I had a few hours to visit a location I hadn't seen in over 15 years, the Chattahoochee Nature Center. The nature center has the goal of educating people on the wetlands around the Chattahoochee River while rehabilitating and caring for some injured birds.

I rarely take the camera to a zoo - photographing birds in captivity takes some of the challenge of the "hunt" out for me. However, I respect an opportunity to practice new techniques on a captive audience, so I took some shots of two birds to practice a technique I've been working on. My goal with these shots was to capture the expression of the bird as he looked at me head-on; most bird photos are taken from the side and I've wanted to work on a new perspective. These rehab birds gave me a great chance to practice getting the right focus and depth of field on a real subject.

Would you believe I took these photos through a cage? If you look carefully you can tell!