Robin Williams, PhD, FBCA

Melbourne, Victoria Australia

This image of a Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius) is from the series "Flights of Beauty: Flights of Sorrow" which is a personal crossover science/art project created to demonstrate the wonderful beauty of bird feathers and at the same time draw attention to the impact of climate change on species loss and biodiversity. Obtaining such detailed and clear photographs of the feathers is challenging and requires the 'merging' of up to 200 individual photographs and the use of complex lighting set-ups to reveal the feathers true colours.

Purpose
Created for a general audience this series of images were created to engage the viewer in the beauty of bird feathers and draw attention to the disastrous loss of species, and therefore biodiversity, caused by climate change and other deleterious impacts on nature. They have been exhibited and formed the basis of presentations but not yet entered into competitions.

Equipment
Macro lens, flash fibre-optic lamp, and multiple focus-stacked images merged in Helicon Focus.