Lophura

Lophura is a genus of pheasant that includes some of the most striking bird species in the world and it is not only due to their fantastic colors but also by their extravagant feathers, watles, crests and amazing courtship behavior. The two species portrayed hear are the rare Lophura bulweri and Lophura ignita. This watercolors were painted some years ago when I was working with animals in captivity in a project of environmental enrichment for birds housed in zoos and aviaries. I hade the oportunity of watching the only male of Bulwer´s pheasant that is held in captivity in Europe. Both watercolors were sold and are now hanging in the walls of private collections in The Netherlands.

Ten Years After

"Ten Years After" was one of my favorite rock/blues band during the 90´s. During 1997 I spend a couple of months in the rainforest of Perú, in the city of "Iquitos", and I have very good memories from that year. Lots of new birds for me in one of the most amazing places I have ever been. lost of stories to be told from that couple of months. One day, during one of my outings in the rainforest I was lucky to watch a couple of greenwing macaws (Ara chloroptera) perched in a branch over the river. During a good amount of time, I enjoyed in silence the observaction of this superb birds -the escence of tropics for me- with my old binoculars. The face of one of the macawas was tinted with yellow and I supposed that it was due to a feast of tropical fruits. I retained that image on my memories and a couple of year later, in 1990, I painted this portrait in Spain. Today, ten years after, both the macaws and the music of that great band are still on my mind ;-)

La canastera dorada / Golden pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

Nikon D300 AFS Nikkor 500VR a pulso ISO400 1/1600s f5 exposición manual

Este es uno de mis vuelos favoritos del día que pasé con las canasteras estrenando el 500VR. Conseguí un montón de fotos con un buen contacto ocular, llenando el encuadre, con buena postura alar y estoy encantado con ellas pero esta... simplemente me encanta la composición, la deliciosa luz dorada del atardecer perfilando la canastera, el fondo dramático, el espacio libre alrededor del ave y los detalles de la cara del ave. Más que una canastera, parece el vuelo de un albatros en alta mar.
Un 10% de recorte a la dercha y arriba, dos conversiones de RAW, enfoque selectivo al ave y ajuste de niveles.

This is one of my favourite flights from the day I spend with the collared pratincoles. I got a lot of fantastic flights with great eye contact, frame filling size, nice wing pose and I am happy with them but this one... I just love the composition, the nice golden light of the evening in the undersides, the dramatic BG, the empty space and the details on the head of the bird. More than a pratincole, this guy looks like an albatross flying in open sea. Croped a bit at the right and top (about 10%) selective sharpening on the bird, a touch of saturation and levels adjustment, two RAW conversions.

El vuelo de las canasteras /the flight of the collared pratincoles (Glareola pratincola)

Flights with the 500VR are a real joy, much, much better than with the 300VR+1,4XTC. I handholded the lens all along the day and I returned home with a lot of keepers so I am really happy with the lens performance This is one of the flights from that day. This guys fly really fast and their flight pattern is not very predictable... in other words, they are really fun to photograph. Nikon D300, AFS Nikkor 500VR handheld ISO640 1/1250s f7,1

Proceso de creación 2 - Pavo ocelado / Making of 2 - Ocellated turkey (Agriocharis ocellata)

Este es el resultado final de la acuarela y un detalle de la cabeza.

This is the final result of the watercolor and a detail of the head.

Las jaulas deberían estar siempre vacías / Bird cages should always be empty

El vuelo del abejaruco / The flight of the bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Uno de mis primeros resultados decentes en vuelo con el 500VR. a pulso Aquí está el RAW original y el resultado final del procesado.

One of my first decent flights handholding the 500VR. Here you can see the original RAW file and the result of th eprocessing job

Proceso de creación 1 - Pavo ocelado / Making of 1 - Ocellated turkey (Agriocharis ocellata)

Esta es una pintura que tiene algunos años ya pero que considero mi mejor trabajo hasta la fecha. Me encantaba esta acuarela pero la vendí y ahora está en una colección privada en Holanda. Hice varias imágenes del proceso de creación para ilustrar los diferentes pasos en el proceso de creación de una pintura: boceto, coloreado y la adición de "vida" al papel ;-)

La historia que hay detrás de esta acuarela y el resultado final del trabajo vendrán en un apróxima entrada...

This is a painting that I made several years ago and that I think that it is my best work to date. I loved this watercolor but I sold and now is in a private collection in The Netherlands. I made several images of the creating process in order to ilustrate the different steps of a painting process: sketching, colouring and the addition to "life" to a watercolor paper ;-)

The story behind the painting and the final result on a coming post...

Carracas / Eurasian roller (Coracias garrulus)

Nikon D300, AFS Nikkor 500VR, ISO500, f5,6, 1/320 VR on, hide, WHII on tripod, full frame

Al final he vendido mi querido 300VR y ya estoy a la espera de que llegue el nuevo 500VR pero, mientras tanto, tengo la suerte de tener uno que me presta mi buen amigo Pepe Reigada para que vaya soltándome con el nuevo objetivo. El otro día estuve haciendo pruebas y los resultados me gustaron bastante. Creo que podré olvidar el 300 sin problemas porque hasta para vuelos dió buen resultado. Esta carraca estuvo posando muuuucho rato y al final opté por quitar el 1,4XTC y hacer una foto a pelo para incluir los dos agujeros que anda mirando para ver en cual va a anidar.
Por cierto, nunca había visto unas carracas tan confiadas como éstas y es que viven a apenas 40 metros de las casas de un pueblo cercano a Córdoba y están muy acostumbradas a la presencia humana.

My 300VR was sold last week and I have a new 500VR on order but, until the arrival of th enew lens I have a borrowed 500VR of a friend (it is great to have good friends ) and this morning I went to try the lens with the bee-eaters. They were not very cooperative and it has been not possible to take a decent image of one perched but lots of nice flights that makes me very happy. This year, in the bee-eaters sand bank there are about three to four pairs of rollers that are visiting the old holes in th esearch for one to breed in. Very early in the morning this guy was inspecting a couple of holes in the shadows so I went up to ISO 500 and got some decent images instead of the fact that the bird was not at eye level but I am happy with this one. I decided to remove the 1,4XTC to include in the frame the holes to show the nesting habitat. I took some frames of courtship behaviour in flight. By the way, they are not breeding yet.