Editor: Liu Yan Photo/Text: Liu Yan
Most people think of Malaysia as a tropical island country, and the surrounding scenic islands have become a place for people to vacation and rest. In addition to the abundant island resources, it also has a very rich bird resource, which attracts a large number of bird watchers to take pictures here every year. This time, on behalf of the only media in the mainland to participate in the "2014 Asian BirdFair", let us take the Nikon D4s and look for those beautiful angels together.
<h3>A quest in the rainforest of Fraser Hill</h3>
Many migratory birds fly to Malaysia in the winter. As a result, there are large herds of birds of all kinds, coiled in the blue skies of Fraser Hill, inhabiting the dense rainforest.
<h4>Early morning with their first intimate encounter</h4>
Fraser Hill is a very famous bird watching destination in Malaysia, and our hotel is built in a lush rainforest. It was raining heavily outside when we checked in, and we fell asleep happily to the accompaniment of the ticking rain. The next morning, the rainforest, baptized by rain overnight, was particularly green. Having breakfast, I took my camera and rested in the courtyard of the hotel. There was a flower bush in the yard dedicated to feeding the striated-backed spider birds, and I sat on the steps, ready to welcome these birds who came to "eat breakfast". After a while, a tattooed back-to-back spider bird landed in the flower bush in front of it, sucking the pollen from the flower bud without mercy, and I immediately raised my camera. Obviously photographing such a bird was like the appetizer of a French meal, quickly arousing my taste buds, and I couldn't stop photographing more birds. It was only around the hotel that I began to urge the guide to quickly take us into the rainforest.
<h4>Equipment used</h4>
1. Nikon top SLR D4s
2.AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm F4G ED VR II
3. Bainuo Navigator 2000 trolley box
4. Futu Bao Pantu series tripod
<h4>Never let go of any moment</h4>
On this trip to Malaysia, the fuselage I chose to carry was the Nikon D4s, which has a continuous shooting speed of 10 shots per second, which makes me very handy when photographing birds, especially capturing various movements of birds. In particular, with the AF-C continuous focus system, even birds can track and capture their excellent movements even if they soar in the sky.
<h3>Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary</h3>
Bird lovers have the experience of carrying heavy equipment into the mountains and forests to track birds, and at the Galancia KUALA GULA you will enjoy a bird shooting experience on a boat that will undoubtedly be unforgettable.
F7.1, 1/125 sec., ISO 3200
<h4>Make sure your eyes are open at all times</h4>
The KUALA GULA Bird Sanctuary in the north-west of Perak is home to many migratory birds and Malaysian birds. More than 160 species of beautiful birds have been observed, many of which are already facing extinction. The terrain here is a river flat formed by mangroves, so the hidden natural environment has created a large number of birds to inhabit here. We looked for birds along the river channel inside the reserve. The mangroves are low in altitude, hot and stuffy. Surrounded by dense mangroves, below are dead leaves floating on the surface of the water. Since we are rowing birds, we can't get very close to the birds, but we can still catch a wide variety of birds. The weight of my Nikkor 200mm-400mm F4 VRII lens is really heavy, and it is not possible to use a tripod or monopod in a boat. In the end, I simply lay down in the boat and used my knees and legs to prop up the camera to shoot frequently. All kinds of forest birds and water birds chanted and fled in our ears, and I would never let them go. And because I could keep my head up, I captured a lot of bald eagles circling in the air and swooping down into the water like off-string arrows. In addition, I also photographed rare birds such as rhubarb-crowned woodpecker, flower-bellied greenpecker, blue-winged grebe, spotted fantail, golden-headed spiked grebe, black-winged finches, and red-necked green doves.
The weight of the Nikkor 200mm-400mm lens should not be underestimated, and it is recommended that you use a monopod support to change various angles
<h4>Unexpected surprises</h4>
Please be full of birds chirping in the morning channel. We paddled through the rainforest in our boats, holding our breath and moving forward slowly, even afraid that the sound of the boat's engine would alarm the birds. When I spotted the birds, I immediately raised my camera and the crackling sound was incessant. The sky glows orange after the rain, and gentle light sprinkles into the rainforest. The incessant calls of birds and insects make people unbearable to leave, and even forget the drudgery of using telephoto lenses. People who have not photographed birds may have a hard time understanding the persistence, seriousness and enthusiasm of bird shooters, and when you shoot a bird once, you will be immediately attracted to it. This sense of accomplishment of searching and shooting alone is even stronger.
Simple backgrounds and subjects make the picture better than the cluttered background affecting the picture
<h4>D4s super continuous shooting to capture any wonderful moment</h4>
The Nikon D4s have a super continuous shooting capability of 10 shots per second
Shooting birds on the boat, the difficulty is not general, it is recommended that you must turn on the camera's high-speed continuous shooting function, without hesitation, always press the shutter, in order to capture a wonderful lens. In addition, because the telephoto lens can easily not track birds, when the birds disappear from your viewfinder, you need to quickly look at the position of the birds in the sky with your eyes and then turn the camera towards them.
Nikon D4s continuous shooting effect
F4, 1/8000 sec., ISO 3200
<h4>Tip: Expert guides you step by step to set up the camera to lock the bird</h4>
1, first turn the camera's drive mode button to the "high-speed continuous shooting" function, some cameras also have low-speed continuous shooting, do not doubt, the use of the highest speed shooting is absolutely not wrong.
2. Change the camera's focus mode to "AF-C" tracking mode, so that even if the birds in the sky fly completely irregularly, the focus of the camera will automatically track the birds.
3, the sensitivity is set to ISO 800, during the day when the light is strong, it is also recommended that you increase the sensitivity, so that the shutter speed is faster, so as to capture the clear movement of birds.
<h3>Kuala Selangor Harbor "hunts" birds</h3>
Kuala Selangor is a well-known seaport in the west of Malaysia, where many floaters rely on fishing and are rich in bird species.
<h4>An unquenchable quest</h4>
It's hard to imagine that birds can be photographed even in city parks. Near the entrance to the park, there is a viewing platform with a good view, several tall trees in the near distance, and dense forest in the distance. Monkeys frolick in the trees, and birds come and go. We put the machine on the platform. There is a freshwater lake in this park, and the islands in the lake and the vegetation on the shore are good. Not far away, there are several trees with huge crowns, and dozens of birds in the canopy are nesting. These birds are called colored crowns, Chinese called bald ibises. The bird is predominantly white, with black markings on the tail of its wings and red tail feathers. Some of them are busy building nests on branches, and some are intimately intercourse in the nests. When you come to Malaysia, you have to photograph the mangrove eight-colored thrush, which is a unique species in Malaysia and is a dream object for bird lovers. The bird friends who came here before have waited here for more than 4 hours and have not yet been photographed. We walked around the road as if we heard the chirping of an eight-colored plover, so I quickly recorded it and repeatedly played back the recorded call. After a while, the eight-colored bird really revealed its true face. I immediately did not let go of this moment, and immediately "left" this little elf in my memory card.
The use of the hydraulic gimbal allows us to adjust the angle to pursue birds anytime and anywhere, and it is convenient for us to adjust the composition. Photographing birds on a tripod, it is best to attach the gimbal to the lens tripod ring so that the weight can be balanced.
<h4>Shoot birds like people</h4>
Whether it's at Fraser Hill, KUALA GULA or Kuala Selangor, you can play with birds every day, an experience that is enjoyable for those of us who love to photograph birds. The bird resources here are so abundant that after shooting some of them, you start to think about composition, exposure and even creative things like higher-level photography techniques. In order to photograph bird works more photographically, or more artistically, and get rid of the conventional "specimen" shooting, I boldly gave up a lot of cluttered backgrounds and complex color environments, and completely photographed them as if they were human creations. Because they are also like the models in front of my lens, they have a variety of different graceful postures, and there are various expression methods when they are integrated in the environment, or minimalism, or silhouettes, or portraits, or movements, which can be fully considered under the premise of sufficient shooting, compared to only countries with abundant bird resources like Malaysia, which can make you have a deeper creative consideration.
<h4>Later, the silhouette is better</h4>
The Levels tool makes simple silhouettes
Since we're shooting against the light ourselves, we just need to use the Levels tool and adjust the rulers at both ends to the middle.
"Smart Sharpening" makes details stand out
Sharpening is generally required to work with bird images, and here we recommend the "Smart Sharpening" tool for simple adjustments.
F4, 1/8000 sec., ISO 3200
<h4>Tip: Experts guide you to shoot other images with your eyes open</h4>
Shooting birds in Malaysia, in addition to birds you have a lot of ecological animals to shoot, such as monkeys and squirrels, when you see squirrels, do not hesitate, because the protective color of this small animal and the color of moss on the branches are very close, in addition, squirrels will generally climb up and down along the tree from the tree, so when shooting, you can use vertical beats, it is recommended not to automatically rotate open, so that when playing back, you can see the squirrel standing.
Continuous shooting to get the best posture of squirrels
At night, your camera is definitely not idle, and you can see fireflies with your own eyes, but on the boat. Photographing fireflies on a boat is not the same as on land, and can be photographed using a tripod slow door. On the boat you can only use high sensitivity for shooting, and you must use manual focus, turn on the camera's live view, observe the manual focus through the LCD screen, and see the fireflies flashing in the screen, so that you can shoot the fireflies that jump clearly.
Take advantage of the Nikon D4s high-sensitivity to photograph fireflies
It is also a good choice to photograph the stars at night
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