I was informed by someone I was on a work call with that she saw flamingos in the Venetian lagoon last weekend. Since pink flamingos are one of the many species of birds that stop in the Po delta while migrating, I immediately jumped to conclusions and thought I'd see them for sure if I go there for the weekend.
Talking to my mother only confirmed this, she told me my parents saw them all winter when going on morning walks, so probably they're staying there all year? (don't know how non-metal birds work, I understand only planes).
Sadly a recurring theme in my attempts to photograph flamingos is my lack of a long telephoto lens. A 500mm f/8 mirrored lens has been on my shopping list for a while, and I'm only waiting to go on an overseas trip and see if I can find a few deals compared to what I usually have access (European eBay). I used my best available option: my cheap Kalimar telephoto that stretches to 200mm, paired with a 2x teleconverter, for a focal length of 400mm. As film, I decided to go for a roll of 250D AHU, pushing it to 500 to get faster shutter times in the early hours of the morning.
For comparison, I brought along my EOS 200D with the EF-S 55-250mm, so same focal length (assuming 1.6x because APS-C crop factor), but the Canon lens has stabilization and, of course, my DSLR can go to higher ISOs. And the images out of my Canon were stunning. But, still, I'm also happy with what I got on film, especially the last one (of course I only had that color roll and it was over when I found that last spot where flamingos were closer).
Oh, if you're wondering why they're not that pink, apparently flamingos get that color by eating some kind of shrimp/plankton. I've always seen them white, I guess they get it from elsewhere and not in the Po Delta.
Camera: Minolta XG-2, Kalimar 28-200mm f/4-5.6 w/2x teleconverter (400mm total focal length)
Film: Eastman-Kodak Vision3 250D AHU, rated at EI500, developed in Axelcolor Kit C-41 for newbies, dev time 4:00
