I recently had the opportunity to visit my friend Dawn, and her two ‘children,’ Lady and Dude.

Instinctively, I pulled out my camera, though I wasn’t sure how the birds would react.  I didn’t want to scare them.  Dawn removed the birds from their cages and they carefully assessed the situation. I switched to my telephoto lens, this way I could stand far away so the birds would feel at ease.

This is Lady.  She’s a Blue-headed Pionus.

Dawn with Lady as the center of attention in the photo.  Lady seems to enjoy the fanfare.  🙂

This is Dude, an American Parakeet.  By this time the birds were somewhat more familiar with me so I switched to the 50 mm lens.  I still moved slowly and steadily to avoid spooking them.  As you can see from the photo below, Dude, looks a bit skeptical.

Date:  March 1, 2014
Camera:  Big Bertha (Canon EOS 5D Mark II)
Lens:  70-200mm, 50mm
Tips:  In an ideal circumstance, I would place my models here or there – or maybe change backgrounds, add some lights, use a flash and a tripod.  Maybe I’d stretch the photo shoot to an entire hour until I was absolutely certain I had the perfect photos.  Clearly, I’d get carried away!  But, this is not always feasible or realistic – especially with animals!  So do your best under the conditions you have presented to you.  It’s a great opportunity to learn and I’m happy with the outcome.  🙂