September 22nd, 2012, 05:14 PM
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A year of shooting birds
I thought I might make a few observations about my first year of shooting birds.
I got back into photography a year ago after a very long break. I'd been given a diabetes type 2 diagnosis and told to start exercising so I took up walking, at first with an iPod plugged into my ears but that got boring. I ended up buying an E-P3 with the 2 kit zooms and taking a camera instead of the iPod, and that got me looking at what was around me. I live in an outer suburb with nature strips and water features and there's a lot of birds around so I started shooting them.
My first attempts were with ducks on a nearby pond. A year later I still don't have a decent duck photo. There are many times that I've come to think that ducks are boring birds but I keep seeing other people get very nice and interesting shots of ducks. My conclusion at present is that they're smart and they don't like me, and every time they see me coming they pass the word "Act boring and he'll go away". I have yet to be admitted to the secret life of ducks.
On the other hand I've come to realise that I've seen a fair bit in the last year. I wasn't noticing young birds when I first started looking at birds last September but I'm seeing them now. I've actually seen a full season cycle including the breeding period a couple of months ago. I'm now noticing lots of chicks around, and some very protective parents. My second shot above has 2 moorhen chicks in it, and they look very scruffy compared to the sleekness of their parents. That's the case with some of the others I've seen in the last couple of days.
It's also been interesting observing and photographing ibis on the nest. Ibis don't have a good reputation locally, people don't seem to like them. I suspect part of the reason is that they are inveterate food scavengers in public places. Strangely I've come to quite like them, but I really need a longer lens if I want to get some really good shots of them nesting. I keep thinking of the 75-300 or 100-300 but they're both on the slow side so I now find myself thinking about Panasonic's forthcoming 150mm F/2.8. It's not quite as long as I'd like but I find I can get some nice shots with the 75mm if I crop and I've really enjoyed being able to shoot at F/4 and faster with it.
And while I photograph birds, I'm not yet enough of a birdwatcher to be able to name all of the birds I see. Maybe I should start working on that over the next year.
All in all, it's actually been a very good year for me. If I'd been asked when I bought the E-P3 if I was going to photograph birds the answer would have been a resounding "no" but I found myself getting into it after a couple of lucky shots that I liked. It's been a real unexpected pleasure.
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