View allAll Photos Tagged Real
Real Madrid's Brazilian midfielder Kaka (TopL), Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (BottomL), Real Madrid's German midfielder Mesut Ozil (R) and Real Madrid's Brazilian defender Marcelo celebrate the scoring during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs Villarreal CF on January 9, 2011 at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid won 4-2. AFP PHOTO/ PEDRO ARMESTRE (Photo credit should read PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
These birds were part of a small flock of eight on Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury, August 2013.
A cosmopolitan bird found worldwide in tropical and temperate regions. Of the four or more subspecies, the range of the largest, Egretta alba modesta is found in India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Geographically and climatically New Zealand is near the extreme limits of its range.
In New Zealand it is a rare bird, and probably always has been. However the species was almost exterminated to satisfy the demand for feathers for women’s hats after its only breeding site on the banks of the Waitangiroto Stream, near Okarito in South Westland was discovered in 1865. By 1941 there were only four nests when it was declared a reserve and patrolled at breeding time. The numbers have now stabilised with a permanent population of around 100 to 120.
Outside of the breeding season these birds disperse widely throughout the country, frequenting shallow waters along the margins of rivers, inland lakes, swamps and coastal estuaries. Its long legs, bare of feathers well above the ankle joint, and long spreading toes fit it especially for wading on a muddy bottom. They are solitary feeders. At night when not feeding they roost in trees. Their voice is the typical heron croak in flight or when disturbed.
Kotuku food consists of mainly small fishes, including eels. Standing in water as deep as its long legs will allow without wetting its feathers, it remains perfectly still until a fish comes within reach, then with lightning like rapidity it strikes and at once swallows its prey. In addition to fish, its food includes, frogs, tadpoles, insects and even birds. I have witnessed a kotuku break a hole in the roof of an aviary and snatch out several canaries.
Their only nesting site in New Zealand on the banks of the Waitangituna Stream. White heron tours are now a major eco tourism industry for the nearby town of Whataroa.
Adult birds start arriving from all over the country around August and take part in elaborate courtship displays. Males build small platforms from which they advertise themselves to females. Displays of the male include a spectacular raising of the nuptial plumes, with the neck erect, the bill snapping and the wing feathers flicking. Once a female is attracted, the pair preen each other and intertwine their long necks, wings and bill. The female builds the real nest platform. The nests are placed in trees or in the crowns of tree ferns near to or overhanging water and at various heights from three to thirteen metres. The nests are well built of sticks and fern fronds. Three to five eggs are laid in September or October and the young are ready to fly in December and January.
The feathers of Kotuku, like the Huia, were highly prized by Maori and were used to adorn the heads of chiefs both in life and after death. The feathers were kept, as were Huia feathers, in elaborately carved boxes.
In Maori oratory, the most telling compliment is to liken someone to Kotuku. It symbolizes everything rare and beautiful. It was said that Kotuku is an inhabitant of the nether world, the spirit land of Reinga, and that an old funeral chant ends with these words to the departed: “Ko to kotuku to tapui, e Tama e – Kotuku is now thy sole companion, O my son!”. So seldom does Kotuku appear in any locality that “rare as the Kotuku” has passed into a proverb among Maori.
Details: Length 92 cm., weight 900 g., entirely white in non-breeding plumage, iris and bill yellow, legs and feet black. In August the adult birds undergo a change, growing long white feathers of loose texture which lie over the back, wings, and tail like a bridal train. These are the nuptial or breeding plumes. The bill becomes black and the facial skin green.
I made a video showing how an interior real estate photo for a flyer should be done, as many real estate flyer photos are really unflattering. This photo is the example I made in the video.
Yesterday I finally got my hands on a piece of Fordite. I was up all night trying to make a faux version. Now, I do realize how lame it is to make "faux paint"--but the stuff is kind of pretty and fairly expensive. My version feels identical to the real deal. Now I have to make one into a ring for today, if I can stay awake.
Una de las imágenes mas fotogénicas del planeta es el majestuoso PAVO REAL. Vanidoso, se sabe bello en cada centímetro, posa para quien quiera retratarlo. Como fotógrafo desde este lado, se goza en cada disparo.
Life was much easier when apple and blackberry were just fruits.
Thank you for all your visits and kind comments this last week, much appreciated.
Have a great weekend everyone, take care.
Maya, hope your feeling a little better today, get well soon my friend.
2011 © Hans Davis Photography.
© All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.
TALLINN, ESTONIA - AUGUST 15: Sergio Ramos of Real runs with the ball during the UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at Lillekula Stadium on August 15, 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
A litle real Winter!
At least a bit of snow! Perhaps 5cm. And a sunny day. So I skipped office and went out. No special pictures, but hey, I was exited like a little boy.
I took this in a dimly lit basement (one 60W light bulb) with my MC-Hartblei 80mm f2.8 Super Rotator. Both images were shot hand-held with my 20D on ISO 3200 and the lens at f2.8. The top image is with the lens fully-tilted(8º) to the right. This brings the plane of focus to 16º, almost aligning it to the dials.
The second image is with it tilted the other way, turning the focal plane away and almost perpendicular to the dials.
This is the situation where lens movements like tilts really pay off. The only other way to acheive even close to this depth of field would be to stop the lens down, forcing the use of a tripod.
A litle real Winter!
At least a bit of snow! Perhaps 5cm. And a sunny day. So I skipped office and went out. No special pictures, but hey, I was exited like a little boy.
Capture details
Focal Length (real): 92 mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter Speed: 0.05 sec (1/20)
ISO: 200
Captured with a Nikon D3s and a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
Alex Megremis Photography
Garza real
(Ardea cinerea)
Ave de gran tamaño y aspecto inconfundible, la garza real no es muy numerosa como nidificante en la Península Ibérica, aunque se encuentra en expansión. Es, en cambio, mucho más abundante durante la invernada y los pasos migratorios, cuando muchos ejemplares europeos recalan en nuestro territorio en su camino hacia el continente africano. Durante el invierno, resulta fácil observar a estas garzas, tanto en vuelo como posadas en las orillas de ríos y embalses aguardando el paso de alguna presa, que capturarán con la ayuda de su potente pico.
Orden Ciconiiformes; familia Ardeidae
Identificación
La garza real es un ave de gran tamaño —la mayor de las ardeidas que frecuentan nuestro país—, de figura estilizada, largo cuello y coloración general grisácea, con un diseño variable según la edad y la época del año. Durante el periodo reproductor, la cabeza de los adultos luce una coloración blanca y aparece adornada por una línea negra y un par de largas plumas de este mismo color, en tanto que el cuello, blanco también, se halla surcado longitudinalmente por dos bandas paralelas negruzcas (dibujo 1). El largo y afilado pico presenta un tono rojizo, y las regiones dorsales son mayoritariamente cenicientas, con una llamativa mancha negra en los hombros. Fuera de la época de cría, el diseño es menos contrastado, sin las plumas ornamentales de la cabeza y con el pico amarillento. En vuelo adopta la postura característica de las garzas, con el cuello encogido en forma de “S” y las patas estiradas sobresaliendo por detrás de la cola, si bien la garza real resulta fácilmente diferenciable del resto de sus parientes debido a su gran tamaño (dibujo 2).
Canto
Además de producir otras vocalizaciones, fundamentalmente cuando se encuentra en compañía de otras garzas dentro de las colonias de cría, emite un sonido muy característico, como un a aarj, áspero y muy sonoro.