On Assignment: Ridgeland, Mississippi-Day Four

"Lil' Birdie" by Wes Aldridge

Mr. Boshier, eat yer heart out. Fun bird shot.

I love wildlife photography, even if it isn't really wild. Get a load of this one. I took the elevator down to the lobby from my suite at the Homewood Suites in Ridgeland and something caught my eye. This six-foot tall glass enclousure was standing there with some cheezy looking foilage inside of it. I hadn't noticed it the first few nights I was here, but tonight as I walked by it, something grabbed me... the chirping of birds.

I looked closely and there were about five 3-inch tall lil' birdies flying around inside the glass case. I thought, no way was this real. I mean, give me a break. As if wildlife refuges and zoos were not enough, someone had the wonderful idea of jamming a bunch of live birds inside a tiny glass case inside of a hotel lobby.

I must say that I shot this shot because I totally disagreed with the principle involved with it. I think it is strange, bizarre, maybe even a little screwed up to have tiny birds shoved inside a glass cage in the middle of a lobby. Of course, I am one of those types that doesn't care for hunting and captivity of about any kind, though... unless it if for pure necessity in the aspect of survival. Don't get me wrong, I am not a gun control freak or anything like that. I just don't agree with boxing a living creature in for the entertainment of other creatures, i.e., Humans.

None the less, Mr. Boshier, I was able to shoot this photo with my 24-70mm lens at f/2.8. How many shots have you gotten of your beloved fowl culture standing within 2-feet of the fiesty little creatures, huh? Answer me now!!! Just joking bro. Thought I would use this cheap and cheezy way of shooting this tiny bird just to rip on ya a bit. It is nothing like holding that 400mm f/4 out in God's County, is it? Nuff said. I will crawl back into my inferior birding photography cage. Reign supreme, my brother, reign supreme.