Bird Photos, Impressionist Style

European Bee-eater perched atop old tree stump, Kruger National Park, South Africa

From my experiments with digital painting to give wildlife images an impressionistic feel, I'm finding bird photos make excellent candidates.

It depends a lot on the background of course. A plain blue sky, for example, is less suitable than out-of-focus greenery or distant hills. Bright, colorful birds make good subjects, hence the number of bee-eaters displayed here. Kingfishers and sunbirds are also great.

Little Bee-eater on twig, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia

White-fronted Bee-eater with green foliage in background, Lower Zambezi, Zambia

Portrait of colorful Helmeted Guineafowl, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Southern Double-collard Sunbird on Freylinia tropica shrub

Giant Kingfisher keeps eye out for potential prey, Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Although I can't even draw a stick man, I enjoy art. I especially like impressionist paintings. If I had to choose, I guess Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet would be my favorites among the French Impressionists.

So it's natural, bearing in mind my lack of artistic ability, that I'd like to see some of my images given the look of impressionism. Of course, I have no illusions that this is real art and certainly would never claim as much. But it's fun and I enjoy the results. (See also Wildlife Photos, Impressionist Style).

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