Colorful feathered residents of Philadelphia Zoo

[PacAce]

Previoulsy I posted some pictures of 4-legged animals I photographed at the Philly Zoo. Here are the feathered residents that I saw there.

I saw this tropical bird in the Primate Reserve where the orangutan, chimps and other primates are housed. I have no idea what kind of bird this is. It was behind glass walls so I couldn't use a flash. :(

[Update: This is the green aracari found in the tropical rain forests and marches of South America.]

http://tanseikai.com/pacace/images/PhillyZoo/Tropical-Bird.jpg

1DmkII 70-200 IS L + 1.4x TC @ 150 mm - 1/30 sec. f/4.0 ISO 400


I was tickled pink to see a pair of Mandarin ducks at the zoo. They and the wood ducks really facinate me because they are so colorful and small like cute toys. :D

http://tanseikai.com/pacace/images/PhillyZoo/Mandarin-Duck-(male).jpg

1DmkII 70-200 IS L @ 173 mm - 1/200 f/2.8 ISO 200


http://tanseikai.com/pacace/images/PhillyZoo/Mandarin-Ducks.jpg

1DmkII 70-200 IS L @ 200 mm - 1/320 f/2.8 ISO 200


And, of course, a zoo would not be a proper zoo without the peacocks running around all over the place. :lol:

http://tanseikai.com/pacace/images/PhillyZoo/Peacock.jpg

1DmkII 70-200 IS L @ 200 mm - 1/400 f/4.0 ISO 400

[Scottes]

Love the ducks!

I got some harlequin ducks last weekend - from 1/4 mile away. :-( I like these much better.

[sparker1]

Very good photos. Is the first some kind of toucan?

[PacAce]

Very good photos. Is the first some kind of toucan?

To tell you the truth, I haven't a clue. I did a Google search on "toucan" and although the bird in my picture has a large bill like the toucan, the colors and patterns don't match at all to any of the pictures Google came up with. I'll have to remember to look up the name the next time I go there.

[blevine15]

Great looking birds. The ducks are fabulous.

[aam1234]

Man! what a beautiful birds !

[jimtfoto]

First bird could be an aracari ... similar to toucan ....

cheers,
jim

[PacAce]

First bird could be an aracari ... similar to toucan ....

cheers,
jim

Yes, you are correct. It's the green aracari and I just found that out myself last night after doing a Google search. I meant to post that earlier today but I forgot all about it . :)

[stoneylonesome]

WOW! Leo great shots, the colors are Beautiful

[PacAce]

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words and compliments. :)

[boomer1959]

Great shots :D I too like the ducks

[markubig]

Hey Leo -

Great shots!!!

Question for you: I'm trying to get an idea of the reach of 200mm because i'm considering the 70-200 f/4 L as my next lens. How far away are you from the Peacock in the last picture?

Thanks!

[PacAce]

Hey Leo -

Great shots!!!

Question for you: I'm trying to get an idea of the reach of 200mm because i'm considering the 70-200 f/4 L as my next lens. How far away are you from the Peacock in the last picture?

Thanks!

I'm not very good at judging distance, especially after the fact, but I'd say I was within 15 feet of it. I'll let you know for sure when I get home and can verify it via the EXIF (I think the distance is recorded there :confused: )

[PacAce]

I'm not very good at judging distance, especially after the fact, but I'd say I was within 15 feet of it. I'll let you know for sure when I get home and can verify it via the EXIF (I think the distance is recorded there :confused: )

OK, just tried pulling the distance info out of the EXIF but the viewer I'm using doesn't recognize the 1D2 raw file. I tried converting the RAW to JPEG but when I did that, I get 0 for the distance. :confused: Sorry. But I'm pretty sure it was between 15 to 20 feet.

[markubig]

OK, just tried pulling the distance info out of the EXIF but the viewer I'm using doesn't recognize the 1D2 raw file. I tried converting the RAW to JPEG but when I did that, I get 0 for the distance. :confused: Sorry. But I'm pretty sure it was between 15 to 20 feet.
Hi Leo - that's fine. I just wanted a rough estimate . . . thank you for your help. Again, beautiful shots!!!

[Scottes]

Mark, check this out: http://www.liquidsculpture.com/DOF/DOF.htm

It's a Depth of Field simulator which is pretty darn cool. You can put in your lens length, aperture, and distance and then choose from a few objects (from ladybug to biplane). It shows you a wire-frame model showing the DoF and the size in the frame.

That should give you some good ideas about how well a 200mm will get what you want.

[PacAce]

Hi Leo - that's fine. I just wanted a rough estimate . . . thank you for your help. Again, beautiful shots!!!

The 70-200 f/4 is a very good lens based on what others have said about it and how my own f/2.8 performs. I don't think there's anything better in the same league as this one so I wouldn't hesitate recommending it. And if you want more reach, you can tack on a 1.4X TC. It won't get you as far as the 100-400 L but the total cost isn't as high either. I have both the 70-200 and the 100-400 and I always take the 70-200 plus the 1.4x with me when I don't need the reach of the 100-400.

[PacAce]

Mark, check this out: http://www.liquidsculpture.com/DOF/DOF.htm

It's a Depth of Field simulator which is pretty darn cool. You can put in your lens length, aperture, and distance and then choose from a few objects (from ladybug to biplane). It shows you a wire-frame model showing the DoF and the size in the frame.

That should give you some good ideas about how well a 200mm will get what you want.

That's pretty cool, Scott. I know this was brought up before but I never looked into it because I was using a PC then and I didn't want to bother with the Java applet. But the Mac already has the applet so the simulator ran just fine on it....a tad slow but it worked. :D

I knew this was a DOF simulator but it works great for VOF as well, as you suggeste4d, especially with the different models that you can select. Cool!

[markubig]

Mark, check this out: http://www.liquidsculpture.com/DOF/DOF.htm

It's a Depth of Field simulator which is pretty darn cool. You can put in your lens length, aperture, and distance and then choose from a few objects (from ladybug to biplane). It shows you a wire-frame model showing the DoF and the size in the frame.

That should give you some good ideas about how well a 200mm will get what you want.
took me a few minutes to get the hang of it . . . that's a really cool tool. Thanks, Scotte