Black and white birds

That's birds in Black and White rather than black and white birds in fact I was recently at Birdworld near Basingstoke and here are a few from the first crop I have processed. The weather was pretty poor and there's always a bit of a struggle to deal with netting and cages and the like, so I generally try and get a bit creative in PP, and use a few judicious crops. For those who don't like B/W I think there are colour versions of all of these (plus a growing number of others) on my flickr stream.

First up, a couple of pics of an African Grey Parrot:







Then, a sleepy looking snowy owl:




A blue-feeling Balinese Mynah Bird:




A reflective Toucan:




A crusty-looking Hornbill:




A rather handsome fellow but I am not sure what - seems to be pondering what lies beyond the wire




and finally, a like-minded Amazon




I hope you like these. Any C&C welcome. Birdworld is a very neat place and I took a load of pictures; still having a few gigabytes to process... maybe I'll post some more in a few days These were all taken with the K5 and DA* 300, which was a good combo for these circumstances, I thought; although for some of the bigger birds it got in just a bit too close so I later switched to the 200mm little brother...

Regards

Interesting set and enjoyed looking at them...must say 'reflective toucan' is a classic shot, I filled the screen with it...love it!
Nigel

Works well, particularly like the Toucan

Brilliant pictures and Lovely work on the b/w

Work very well Mat. Lovely set. Toucan and the second African Grey are my favourites

After reading the first post, my initial thought was "wut? That's like photographing flowers in B+W...".

Which is usually a miss, but when you hit the mark, it's beautiful. And these photos are beautiful sir. Thank you for sharing them with us. Toucan + Hornbill are my faves.:arrow:

Hi, A great set. I like them all. Regards, Jeeess

It's not easy to make birds look interesting in Black and white but you've certainly done so!
No.s 1-3 are my choices

Yes, great textures and rich contrasts. Well done.

G

Super set. As George said above, really shows the textures.

Personal favorites, The first African Grey Parrot and the Snowy Owl is fantastic!

Very nice set. I think you can be very proud if these were all taken on one day. Looks like a longer term project very delicate textures.

I agree with Nigel about the Toucan lovely. I think the only crop that hasn't quite worked is the Hornbill but you have already alluded to this.

I am a sucker for black and white, thanks for sharing these.

A fantastic set of pictures Mat, not often you see bird shots like these in BW, but they work so well! Congratulations on the fine results you have achieved.

Regards
David

I don't like the last two, but only because of the wires.

The rest are just excellent. I saw the title, and was expecting to hate them all, since the subtle and beautiful colours that birds have, always seem to be integral to their captures.

But you proved me comprehensively wrong - thank you.

Yes, exactly

I hadn't read this when I posted, but it's exactly how it struck me too.

I really like the second one of the African Grey, and it is particularly well suited to B&W because the only colour on the bird is its red tail.