The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Five

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 Chapter Five

Save the Camera!

The camera is an instrument that teaches people 

how to see without a camera.

--Dorothea Lange

 

Sergio takes us down to the little creek in the rainforest where the Atlantic Royal Flycatcher is building her nest, then drives about a hundred feet uphill to park his car.

 

Knowing where the path is, I lead the way…until I find a snake coiled on the path.   It slowly makes its way to a big moss-covered tree and slithers up its trunk.  I'm frozen in place.  Then, after photos, of course, we make our way to the flycatcher.

The snake was too close to get a sharp photo.   Or something.

 

Sergio arrives, hears about the snake and wants to see it, so I take him back to the tree.   Harmless, he declares, but ever after that he always leads the way into the forest.   

 

He sits next to me on the small plastic chair and sets up a tripod to video the flycatcher in flight.   He gets his footage and we continue to shoot and wait for the little bird.

 

Suddenly, I see Sergio begin to tip over to his right, where the creek is.  I see him twist in mid-air and reach out with his arm to make sure the camera doesn’t go into the creek.   He saves both himself and the camera after a front leg of chair sinks in the soft earth.

 

It’s a situation photographers fear—losing their balance and damaging their expensive equipment.  Of the few times I've fallen with a camera, never once has the camera touched the ground because I've managed to twist so I land on my back.

 

“Save the camera” has become a serious, and yet comical, saying.   To heck with the person.   Save the camera!

It occurs to me that you might like to know where we are, so here's a map:

Right now, we are along the eastern coast of Brazil, having driven from São Paulo to the site marked "B" on the map, south of Rio de Janeiro.

 

After lunch, we head to the hummingbird set-up under the canopy.  Sergio removes all the feeders from the perimeter, leaving only one in the center.   Once the birds approach it regularly, he substitutes various  flowers on a tripod and the shooting begins.

 

This time, instead of a mass stampede, two of us shoot first and then the second two.   It works much better this way.

The synchronized flash set-up.

There are two funny things that occur.   Virginia and I both have hummers approach us closely.   We puzzle about this until we realize that my lens hood has red tape on it and Virginia's phone is tethered to her by a red strap around her neck.

 

So, with no words to distract you,  enjoy the hummingbirds:   

(One note--we begin with a white background then switch to dark green.)

Brazilian Ruby, so named for the red throat.

Brazilian Ruby

Note the tongue

Black-throated Mango

Brazilian Ruby

Brazilian Ruby

Jacobin

Long-tailed Hermit

Jacobin

Violet-capped Woodnymph

Brazilian Ruby

Brazilian Ruby

Brazilian Ruby

Black-throated Mango