All photos below were captured at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in 2014. These are Gambel's Quail that I photographed near the entrance of the refuge. I chose to capture many different views of these adorable quail. They were a bit aggressive with each other at times and the action was so funny to watch. The first image was my very first shot. It is a traditional capture, raised foot and head turned slightly towards me. I think the feathers are striking. The second image shows a juxtaposition with two in the frame. I waited until the tail of the one bird was clear of the other. I was shooting with a 600mm lens on a tripod with the legs splayed low to the ground. I was using a mongoose head which allowed me to follow the birds with ease. The third image is an action shot and I had to stop down my aperture for more depth of field as I wanted both birds in focus as well as the perch. You can see that the birds and perch were on relatively the same plane of focus and the brush in the background and immediate foreground is out of focus. This image captured their aggressive behavior and was lots of fun to capture—it took several tries. Image four is a more creative shot where I used the foreground brush as an out of focus layer to the image and is meant to be a tight portrait.
Which do you prefer and why? Please use the comment section below to respond. My email box is full, and I will not be able to get back to you via email-thanks!
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
