How are you prepared?

Bird photography requires a lot of knowledge on birds which is not so easy even for an advanced or keen bird lover. The more we know about birds, their habitat preferences, feeding ecology or breeding biology the more chance we have to make our bird image collection diverse with beautiful keepers. Not all of us have birding background years back but even if you are a birdwatcher you can agree with me that being a bird photographer requires a sort of different habit or viewpoint in the field.

Technology is with us. We have cameras and lenses for the price of gold. Many of us has a nice pair of binocular, we have iPods and speakers and we have ID books. When I started bird photography I realized that preparing is the majority of the job. When data collected and things prepared for photography then we have to wait for a sunny day to get the best out of our imagination. Only a few guys use telescopes to make some easy research to follow a bird's movement from a distance. Success is depending on the time we spend in the field searching and in the room reading.

I many times see people find it easy to follow the successful buddy and make almost the exact same image on the same perch refusing to add some creativity into his/her photography. I wonder how you guys are prepared for a certain bird to photograph? How much you investigate before you lay in the sand for a sandpiper or sit in front of a singing warbler? What is the percentage of time you spend finding new targets?

Hope you find this interesting enough to react. :)

Cheers, Szimi

well, my philosophy is that if is far enough for me to need binoculars, I can;t get it with my camera.
Or course, I'm talking places where I have no option to go after them if they are far.

Hi Szimi I don't used them because of weight and bulk mainly. Do keep them in the car and used them in places we are close to the car !!

I just bought a binoculars and I like it. It helps me scan the area and search for the targets in a way easier and better than with the camera lenses I have. The binoculars is much smaller and lighter to use to begin with but more powerful. Even if the targets are too far away to photograph, I'll just enjoy watching the birds.

I carry a pair of 6x30 binoculars if it is an area I am not familiar with and will be hiking/walking. I can quickly look through the binoculars before setting up the big lens. If the subject is interesting, then I can prepare for an approach with the camera gear ready.

I always carry binocs because it allows me to scout ahead and plan. I carry the lightest ones I have at the time :either compact 8x or my small Zeiss 8X. I NEVER carry my large birding binocs. A spotting scope is out of the question.
Chas.

Good to see there are votes on wall but don't mix the poll and the original idea :)
I just wanted to see it in numbers what is the share of users and non users of additional optical equipments - that is with the poll.
I still would like to know how are you preparing to target a certain species or group of species.

Szimi

It depends...when I'm working on a certain project, I try to know as much about the subject as possible. What is the natural habitat & behaviour. I do some literature study about the subject, look at photographs of the location and subject, but learn most from field observations. With all that information I start developing an image concept (and sometimes a story board) and try to work on that.
When I'm out on a general shoot, I sometimes end up photographing something that I know little about. I try to observe the subjects behaviour from a distance using binoculars, but soon switch to telephotolens as that allows me to observe and gradually get closer to eventually get a picture.