When I found this pair of birds resting in the shade of the bushes next to a pond on Scottsdale’s Civic Plaza, I looked for a vantage point that would compare and contrast their similarities and differences. I choose a low camera position to refer them to the water in the background, and to stress the striking differences in the coloration of their bills and hairdos. By framing them in this foliage, I soften the scene, and give these birds a sense of scale. Placing a 245mm tele-converter lens over the zoom lens of my digital camera allows me to shoot from far enough away so as not to disturb the birds, and to partially blur the background for better definition. I move my camera ever so slightly to place the black bill of one of these birds into the curve of the neck of other, intensifying the bond between them.