Last month from my balcony, I had observed this brown headed barbet making its nest or home by creating a hollow within the tree. Birds mainly build nests for hatching of eggs and rasing the young but sometimes after making a nest, they simply abondon it. I find this surprising because I had observed the amount of hard work that is involved when creating a nest inside the tree. They are constantly at work everyday. Nests could be abandoned for two reasons. One is that the presence of a predator such a cat or it could have been a dummy nest.
Photography
Photography at National Zoological Park, Delhi
On visiting Delhi, I had a day free so decided to visit the National zoological park for some wildlife photography. The zoological park is a 176 acre zoo in New Delhi and is located in Mathura Road. The zoo houses a number of birds and mammals. Here are some of my best shots from the day.
Nature Photography at Lodhi Gardens
Lodhi Gardens is also a great place for nature and bird photography. One can spot a number of birds such as woodpeckers, hoopoes, owls, baya weavers and much more however I was only able to photograph a small number of birds and common wildlife such as squirrels. The equipment I used was the Canon 7D and Canon 70-300mm L f/4-5.6 telephoto lens. Here is a small showcase of images I shot that day.
Lodhi Gardens March 2020
Lodhi Gardens is a public park located on Lodhi road in Delhi and is now under the protection of Archaeological Survey of India. It contains a number of tombs which were created by the ruling Lodis in the 15th century. The park is located quite near to Khan Market. The park is popular for walkers. Here is a showcase of photos captured on the day.
What’s in my camera bag?
For landscapes and even portraits, I use the combination of the Canon 5D Mark III wth the Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens. Alot of photographers may not consider this to be a lens for portraits but I have created some interesting wide angle portrait images with this lens. It may not have a wide aperture compared to the more expensive prime lenses but still I personally feel that this is a good lens for portraits.
Histogram and Levels Made Simple
A histogram is basically a graph that show how brightness levels are distributed in a photograph. The brightness of a certain pixel is plotted on the horizontal x-axis and is given a number of 0 to 255 with intermediate values in between wihich are midtones. O is pure black and 255 is pure white. There are 256 levels in a raw file. The number of pixels of a certain shade or level is indicated by the hieght of the column in the graph. Therefore if there are lots of distribution of pixels on left side of the graph then photo will be underexposed and if there pixels are distributed on the right side of the graph then photo will be overexposed. For a correctly exposed photograph of an average scene, there should be some pixel distribution in areas of pure black, in pure white and an even dsitribution of pixels between these two.
Birding at Danda Lakhond
Danda Lakhond is a locality within Dehradun and I had recently visited the place for some bird photography last Sunday morning. I had spent a few hours here exploring the area and I photographed a number of small birds. The area is surrounded by forest and there is a small temple nearby. Therefore here is a showcase of birds I was able to photograph on that morning. I had used the Canon 7D and Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L lens to photograph these birds.
Landscapes of Rajaji National Park
Other than the wildlife, Rajaji National Park offers amazing views and is a good option for the landscape/nature photographer. Here are some images that I have taken on my previous trips to the reserve. The best time to visit the park or nearby for some landscape photography would be in the winter and images would be less hazy. In addition to this, the dark clouds and mist give the images a bit surrealistic. Here is a showcase of landscapes of the national park. Equipment used is the Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens.
Elephant Sighting at Jhilmil Jheel
Jhilmil Jheel conservation area is part of Rajaji National Park and a good spot for sighting Elephants, Leopards, Sloth Bear and Swamp Deer. This is located near Haridwar and is 9349.23 acres. It is also the only Terai marshland where Uttarakhands only surviving herd of Swamp Deer live.
Birding in Rajaji National Park
Rajaji National Park is not only a great place for mammals but also a great spot for birding. Here is a showcase of bird photographs taken at Rajaji National Park. These were taken in the summer.