Archive for photography

You are browsing the archives of photography.

A flying American White Pelican

By Charlie August 9, 2008 6 comments

The photo we posted in this week’s SkyWatch of a flying American White Pelican has gone down very well, and as the photo was actually one of a series of four I took I thought I would post the others as well (and hopefully not over-egg the pudding in the process).

I took these [...]

First Attempt at Digiscoping

By Corey August 3, 2008 No comments yet

After the fun-filled factory tour and roundtable discussion at Swarovski headquarters the whole bird-blogging bunch of us headed out to Beavertail State Park for some light birding.  Some of us, including me, tried our hand at digiscoping with equipment provided by Swarovski.  While it was rather easy to get images, getting good images is a [...]

Swainson’s Francolin at dawn

By Charlie May 25, 2008 6 comments

A couple of days ago I posted a short trip report on a visit I made to one of my favourite spots on earth - Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in South Africa. Writing the post reminded me of just how many birds I’ve seen at this one small site, and I thought I might put a [...]

How to be a Quite Good Bird Photographer #4 - Eliminating Blurring

By Charlie March 4, 2008 14 comments

The bane of all (or nearly all?) bird photographers is blurring, where the pin-sharp, award-winning image you see in the viewfinder morphs somehow into a smeared mess fit only for the Recycle Bin. While it’s true that some shots benefit from a bit of creative blurring - I remember seeing a lovely shot of [...]

How to be a Quite Good Bird Photographer #3 - Which camera do I buy?

By Charlie December 10, 2007 1 comment

Am I ever opening a can of worms with this post or what? Buying a camera is often such a matter of personal taste, but let’s put that to one side, dive straight in, and say that the most important questions to ask when buying a camera for nature photography is not “Will this one [...]

How to be a Quite Good Bird Photographer #2 - RTBM

By Charlie December 2, 2007 4 comments

Men, as many of you will know, are curious animals. For example, we know we are at least an inch taller or a stone lighter than the most accurate measuring-devices say we are; we don’t need to use a map to get anywhere because we just know the route already; and we seem to [...]

How to be a Quite Good Bird Photographer #1

By Charlie November 15, 2007 7 comments

I’ve been very fortunate in the four years I’ve been blogging to have received a fair few comments congratulating me on the photographs I’ve taken. I’m very grateful of course, but I have to say that given the opportunities I get from travelling the world with my airline job I’d be a poor photographer indeed [...]

Canon 20D camera

By Charlie April 29, 2006 No comments yet

I’ve been mailed quite a few times asking me which camera I use and whether I’m happy with it. The answer is that I use a Canon 20D with a 100-400mm L lens and yes I am), and after owning it for fourteen months I thought it was about time I reviewed it…[NB - [...]

Secret Lives Of Common Birds

By Mike September 27, 2005 No comments yet

Many birders, present company included, give the impression that only uncommon birds matter to us, the rarer the better. Yet, while we are admittedly excited by exotic avifauna, often willing to go to great lengths to view the unusual or unexpected, these are not the species that sustain our passion. More than likely, a birder [...]