Back From Africa and some bird photos

Well I had a long, fun and productive trip to Africa, coming home with many reference photos (though completing zero art) and memories.  But I am HAPPY to be home (at least for a couple of weeks...LOL).

We saw LOTS of animals in SA! An incomplete list off of the top of my head includes Elephants, Impala, Springbok, Steenbok, Bushbuck, Greater Kudu, Common Duiker, Bush Duiker, Klipspringer, Eland, Blesbok, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Burchell's Zebra, Mountain Zebra, White Rhino, African Buffalo, Warthogs, Bush Pigs, Hippos, Giraffes, Lions, Leopards, Side Striped Jackal, Black Backed Jackal, African Civet, Honey Badger, Spotted Hyena, lots of Mongoose of various types, various bats and tons of birds!

Here are a few photos of birds that we saw in South Africa throughout our trip.  South Africa is a premier birders spot with over 900 species calling it home for at least part of the year.  And while I am far from a hard core birder I do enjoy documenting and looking up the species that I saw.  Since I didn't even have a bird book for that part of the world (the cheapest one I saw was about $35) I had to sneak peeks at the bird books that were being sold in each and every gift shop to get my IDs :)

Yellow Hornbill - a VERY common species around Kruger National Park




This is a Crombec (not sure what type).  They have virtually no tail feathers to speak of, which makes them look quite funny.  Before I looked up the species I thought maybe his feathers had been pulled out by a predator, but nope... that is just how they are!




Collared Sun Bird - These little guys are Africa's version of a hummingbird, though they do not hover, they do LOVE nectar from aloe plants.  This is a male sitting on a Marloth Aloe flower. 

Greater Blue Eared Starling - South Africa has many starling species.  Several of them are incredibly iridescent (they look anywhere from black to green to blue depending on the light) from head to tail (not something that you can capture all that well in a photo).  These guys are very common, but nevertheless the beauty of them is something I never got tired of.

Many would consider the Lilac Breasted Roller as one of Africa's more beautiful (and trademark) birds.  I never did get the 'killer' shot of one that I wanted but got a few shots I can't complain too much about.

White Capped Shrike - These little guys flock together and like to talk a lot.   I think their fluffy look is very cute :)

Pied Kingfisher hovering above a river.  I WISH I could have changed the lighting situation on this photo to illuminate his head better, but it is still a neat thing to see.  I also got photos of a brown hooded kingfisher and a giant kingfisher.



Pros and Cons of Using Zoo Photos for Art Reference

Zoos can be an amazing and invaluable resource for wildlife artists.  While most of us would love to travel to Africa, Asia, Siberia and other exotic locations to photograph our favorite animals in the wild, for most people, including myself this is not realistic.  However a trip to the zoo can give you some great references to work from.  Below are some of the advantages and things to be wary of when using zoo photos as reference for your art.

Pros of zoo photos for reference:

Readily available- most large cities and some small ones have zoos.  Cost to get into them is usually between $5 and $25.

Animals are in close proximity, enabling you to get close photos with even a medium sized zoom.  I often use my 70-200 lens on my DSLR, and occasionally make use of my 100-400mm lens.  The less expensive 70-300 lenses will work great too and since at most zoos the animals are outside in natural light the slower lenses do ok.

If one species is not active or sleeping, find another one!  Lots to choose from and check back later to see if your favorites are awake.  Most animals are more active earlier and later in the day and in cooler weather.  Winter can be a great time for a zoo trip!

Capturing the moment can be a challenge sometimes due to bars or plexiglass, but sometimes you can capture some unique behaviour up close and personal without risk of injury to yourself.  I have been just feet away from young grizzly bears wrestling- something I would never do in the wild!

Cautions of zoo photography references:

The animals are sometimes obese- something they pretty much never would be in the wild.  If you draw the animal in a wild setting the way you see it in the zoo think about this kind of thing.  Wild animals also tend to me more muscular since they have to actively work to get food.

Know your critter and its environment!  While your zoo photo may have a red panda up in a pine tree, you should make sure that that is a tree that you would find it climbing in the wild.  Got a great photo of a cheetah in the snow?  Not something you are likely to find in Africa!  Sometimes it will take research and additional photos to make sure that the animal and the environment you put it into are going to match up.

The challenges of bars and glare or scratched up plexiglass can be frustrating.  For bars try to get your camera lens as close to the bars as possible and zoom in.  Also the further the animal is from the bars the less they will show in the image.  Sometimes even with the best efforts you will get some 'shadow' bars.  At this point try to make sure that the most important things, such as the eyes of the animals are not obstructed.  For plexiglass also try to put your lens very close or right up against it.  Try to find an area with less scratches or frosted look to shoot from.

Reflections in the eyes often show the cage bars in them.  Use artistic license to remove the bars and put a more natural highlight.  Also sometimes the bars will leave shadows- you wouldn't want to put these in either.

In this photo my lens is zoomed out and the wolves are about 20 feet from the bars.  The bars are very visible in the photo.  I can see enough details that this photo would still be usable for a reference.

This wolf is also about 20 feet from the bars, but I have now zoomed all the way in.  The bars are almost invisible.

A third wolf image, and again I quite zoomed in, but in this case the wolf is only about a foot from the bars.  As a result to the close proximity of the bars they are quite noticeable.  I try to make sure the eyes are not obstructed.   can use supplemental photos to get the nose and other details.

This mountain Lion photo shows some glare as a result of taking the photo through plexiglass.  Nevertheless, quite a usable reference as I can see all the details I need.

This cheetah has a look that will stop you in your tracks, but I could not paint him in the scene found in this photo.  This cat lives in Denver where it snows, but you are not going to find this in Africa!

This captive black bear is so fat that his stomach is nearly dragging the ground.  You would never find a bear this obese in the wild!

Resources for scratchboard artists

I often get questions regarding various topics on scratchboard from tools to transfer papers- so below are the answers to some of those common questions.

Best place to learn about scratchboard and get feedback on your scratchboard work -  Wetcanvas! Scratchboard Art Forum - wetcanvas is a free online art community with forums that cover all topics and all mediums.  There is a very active scratchboard forum with some outstanding scratchboard artists that are very helpful and full of good advice.  The members are from all over the globe too!

My favorite brand of scratchboard - as far as I am concerned there is ONLY one brand of scratchboard and it is made by ampersand.  It can be found online through various artist web sites including ASW Express (good prices and inexpensive shipping in the US). Unfortunately it is only available in the US, but I know many artists that spend the $$ to get it shipped to them overseas.

What tools I use - scalpel blades #11, exacto blade #11, speedball scratchboard tip #112 and 113, very small fiberglass brushes, fine grit sandpaper, oil free steel wool

My favorite transfer paper - Super Chacopaper (many sources online and can also be purchased at Michaels craft stores)

Where to get free photos that can be used by artists as references? - I primarily work from my own photos, but if you are not a photogapher and/or can't find what you are looking for check out Stock Exchange, Morgue File, Wetcanvas! Reference Library (must be a member of wetcanvas to access), Flickr Creative Commons (scroll down to the bottom and click all of the boxes by creative commons images to be used commercially and adapted).  I always recommend sending a photographer a note asking permission before using a photo, even if the site gives permission.  It is always better to have permission in writing if you are going to use an image for your art that you plan to sell than face problems later on.