And boy, do they fly!

Taking a picture of a sitting cockatoo is one thing. Not difficult – sitting duck, so to speak. Especially if they are so kind to approach you, well, almost too near!

A different thing, however, is taking an ‚action shot‘ of these magnificent birds in flight. Photographing flying birds is probably the Champions League of wildlife photography – which is precisely why I won’t even try 😉

Oops, broke my own rule here… And you see exactly what happened.

That said, when I went to Sydney’s Bicentennial Park (or, Olympic Park) the other day, I did have a certain idea for a photo series in mind. And it would involve flying birds. However, not in the classic style, but more, ummm, ‚creative‘ (and easier to achieve, hopefully!).

Finding the cockatoos wasn’t difficult, as I already explained. The are loud, bold, and constantly on the move, be it on foot or on wing.

Furthermore, they are kind enough to be largely white, which makes it easier to spot them and to follow them around, when they fly. The autofocus in the camera is also rather grateful.

The rest just happens automatically, really: the light fades as dusk approaches, you cannot possibly push the ISO settings any further, the shutter speed gets slower and slower…

Sharpness of images is a thing of the past now. But hey, who cares?

The bird ghosts of Centennial Park – it was a pleasure to spend some time amongst them.