Feathered friends
Praphat Rattanayanon loves shooting the colourful local birds of his native Thailand
My obsession with taking shots of local birds started when a camera-mad friend took me out in search of the common kingfisher a few years ago. I absolutely loved coming home with bright and colourful photos of those attractive little birds, and I haven’t stopped since.
As I’ve taken wildlife photography more seriously, I’ve learned that Thailand is a haven for bird lovers. There are so many beautiful varieties in all of the country’s different regions, and amazing locations where you can look for them – in the stunning Kaeng Krachan National Park alone there are more than 400 different bird species co-existing, as the area is so rich in biodiversity.
Patience makes perfect
I’ve gained a bit of know-how in my endeavours to photograph the locals. It’s essential to visit locations in the right season, and I usually read up on the behaviour, flight patterns and feeding times of my favourite birds before I travel to a location, but it’s normally far more important to be incredibly patient and just wait.
There are days when the weather or simple bad luck mean I come home without any shots I like, but that doesn’t deter me, as it’s great just
In the Kaeng Krachan National Park there are more than 400 different bird species co-existing. The area is so rich in biodiversity
getting to be outside in such wonderful places.
When I’m on a shoot I’ll usually switch between the Nikon D7000 and the Nikon Df, depending on the light conditions. My favourite lens is the Nikon 300mm f/2.8 telephoto, together with my TC 1.7X teleconverter, as it gives me a fast maximum aperture and beautifully crisp shots.
The birds I most enjoy shooting are kingfishers [4], not just because they were my first subjects but also because they look so delicate yet are so powerful in flight, even though they’re quite small. Spotted owls
[2] are another favourite, as they have hilarious expressions!
I doubt I’ll ever stop photographing birds, as there are more than a thousand types in Thailand. I’m also planning to visit Nepal this month to see how many new species I can tick off my list. 02 spo tted owls Nikon D7000, Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens with 1.7x TC, 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO200
03 Hoo ded pittas
Nikon D600, Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens with 1.7x TC, 1/60 sec, f/4.8, ISO800
04 Black-backed Kingfisher
Nikon D600, Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens with 1.7x TC, 1/40 sec, f/4.8, ISO800