[johnaalex]

I took these at the Cotswold Wildlife Park the other day. The park is just outside Burford in Oxfordshire and as well as birds they have monkeys, camels, a rhino and various other animals.

The full set of pictures can be found here - CWP May 2008

These were taken with a D300 and the Sigma 120-300, click on any picture for a larger version.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

[IAN P]

Fantastic range of colours,great set of pics

[Fozzybear]

Number 6 looks like a relation of the lapwing. Am pretty certain number 10 is an avocet though.

The third one wasn't Gary Glitter's pet was it!?

[onefivenine]

Really great set you've captured. #4 is superbly composed.

[stylgeo]

Beautiful stuff. How do you find the lens? Were you using a monopod or hand held? I find it quite ok for a couple of hours handheld sessions, after that it gets really tiring!

[JohnG]

Excellent pics Are these birds out in the open or are they caged ?

[bodoman]

A right bunch of weirdos, nicely photographed

[johnaalex]

Originally Posted by bodoman

A right bunch of weirdos, nicely photographed

Thanks - I thought they would be at home here

Originally Posted by JohnG

Excellent pics Are these birds out in the open or are they caged ?

They are in walk through avaries.

Originally Posted by stylgeo

Beautiful stuff. How do you find the lens? Were you using a monopod or hand held? I find it quite ok for a couple of hours handheld sessions, after that it gets really tiring!

The lens is heavy (2.6kg) and I am not sure I would carry it for 2 hours on the camera. These shots were all done handheld. I didn't have the strength to carry the monopod as well

Thanks to everybody else who replied, glad you liked the pictures.

[stylgeo]

I find it best to carry this lens attatched to a monopod and rested on my shoulder. Same thing with a tripod. The problem with handheld though is that, even if you can lift it at eye level, after some time your hands are not really steady.
What I do, and I learned this technique from another tog friend of mine, is I rest my left hand on my right arm, right under my right shoulder, point my left elbow at the subject and rest the lens on that elbow. It really works.

[johnaalex]

Originally Posted by stylgeo

I find it best to carry this lens attatched to a monopod and rested on my shoulder. Same thing with a tripod. The problem with handheld though is that, even if you can lift it at eye level, after some time your hands are not really steady.
What I do, and I learned this technique from another tog friend of mine, is I rest my left hand on my right arm, right under my right shoulder, point my left elbow at the subject and rest the lens on that elbow. It really works.

Yes, I use the same method with the monopod. As to your other suggestion I have a problem there as my left arm has been subject of two accidents; a fractured collarbone 20 odd years ago and more recently a very badly fractured humerus so it is not as mobile as it should be , but I'll give it a try.