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Hello from Berkeley, California
Hello,
I am happy to join this group. When I started doing bird photography decades ago, I used a cheap, meterless film SLR (Honeywell Pentax H3v) and a second-hand Schneider-Kreuznach 360mm f5.5 telephoto, manual focus and manual aperture. Once in a while I got a good photo, but most of my slides went into the wastebasket. No matter what might think regarding the wider issue of "human progress," it is undeniable that photographic technology has advanced amazingly since the 1960s. Nowadays, we amateur photographers no longer need to spend wads of money on film, plus both the cameras and lenses are far easier to use. Hooray!
Since 1969 I have used mainly Nikon gear, and in fact, my first Nikon F camera still sits (idly) in a drawer in my home office. Currently, I use a Nikon D500 and D800, and my favorite bird lens is the newish Nikon 200-500mm. zoom. I have also used for some time a second-hand, manual focus 500mm f4P supertelephoto. Now that I am retired I plan to splurge and upgrade to something newer and fancier (recent model 500mm. or 600mm).
I have photographed birds in California and other U.S. locations, mostly, but I also have been to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Belize. It was at Chan Chich Lodge in Belize last October that I was able to photograph this gorgeous Green honeycreeper as it approached a water feature near the lodge dining area (Nikon D7100, Nikon 200-500mm zoom, plus TC-14ciii teleconverter). My next trip will be to the Galapagos Islands in early October. I look forward to this, and to other exotic excursions over the next years, while I still have the strength and stamina to carry heavy gear in pursuit of bird photos. I feel a pang when I use the word "pursuit," as I have become increasingly conscious in recent years of a downside of bird photography, i.e., that sometimes the attempt to get closer to birds causes them to flee. I don't relish being a "consumer" of birdlife as a photographer--I try to keep a respectful distance and to minimize the disturbance. This is an issue with which I continue to struggle.
Looking forward to exchanging news and views with other bird photographers.
Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, California
