Bird videos

Anna's hummingbird in my backyard

This tiny bird is only two inches tall so it was a challenge getting up close even with my 300mm lens on a crop body camera. Post-processing was done in Adobe AfterEffects to enhance exposure and clip the video.

Toucan at Iguazu Bird Park, Brazil

A visit to the world famous Iguazu falls at the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay (see map below) isn't complete without a trip to Parque das aves (bird park) inside Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (Iguazu National Park) on the Brazilian side. This large bird park features many tropical birds, but the star attraction is the Toucan which is Brazil's national bird. 

I shot the video above inside the bird park with my Tamron 70-300mm lens hand-held on my Canon Rebel T3i.

Toucan in Iguazu National Park

For a glimpse of the bird in its natural habitat, check out the video below. I was lucky that this Toucan was living inside a tree just outside my hotel (Belmond hotel Das Cataratas) inside the national park and right opposite the Iguazu falls. I highly recommend the hotel as it is the only one inside the park on the Brazilian side which gives you access to the falls outside park operating hours.

Here's a map that shows the location of Iguazu falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world:

Death Valley National Park - Dunes and Wild Flowers

Death Valley National Park is about 2.5 hour drive from Las Vegas and is a great place for landscape photography.

Starlit sky behind Ibex Dunes

Ibex Dunes are located in Death Valley National Park. These sand dunes are accessible through a 1 mile hike from unpaved Saratoga Springs road.

The image above is a 25 second exposure under half-moon. ISO 400 f2.8 20mm. Canon EOS 600D with Tokina 11-20 F2.8.

Ibex Dunes just before sunrise

I took multiple manual shots at different focal lengths and used focus stacking technique in Photoshop to blend them together. The combined image has everything from foreground to background in focus.

Wild flowers at sunrise

Spring is a great time to see wild flowers in Death Valley. This shot was taken in March at sunrise. I used a gradient filter in Photoshop to darken the sky. I also had to remove lens flare from the original RAW image.

Here is another photo of the wild-flowers:

Mesquite Flat Dunes

These are the most popular and easy to access dunes in Death Valley. The shot above was taken at sunset using Tamron 70-300mm lens.