I have posted a few images now in the critique forums, so I suppose I should introduce myself.
While I have always been a bit of a birdwatcher, I am relatively new to avian photography as a specialty. I purchased my first digital SLR last spring, but I am really no stranger to photography. I have been photographing since I was a teenager and have spent most of the last 15 years focused on large format photography. A work-related move a couple years back took me from "God's Country" (the northern coast in British Columbia at the south end of the Alaska panhandle) to the flat boreal forest of Dryden, Ontario. I found with the change of scenery and lack of darkroom in the new house, I just wasn't inspired and wasn't getting out shooting.
I purchased my first digital camera 5 or 6 years ago - a pocket sized Nikon point-and-shoot I often used to use to "proof" my sheet film images (I never gave it much creedance) but it "gave up the ghost" over the Christmas holidays in 2008. I ended purchasing my second digital camera - a Canon G10 in the winter of 2009 and the much improved image quality over my previous digital camera started getting me a lot more into the whole digital aspect and I started to shoot a lot more and started working on my "Photoshop chops". After the "taxman cameth" last spring I purchased my first digital SLR (a Canon 5DII) - I had a seldom-used EOS-3 with a couple lenses already, so I thought a full frame Canon would be a good place to start since I had a head start on some of the accessories. I found myself getting out a lot more and started spending a lot more time shooting the birds in my backyard and the local wildlife. I added a 70-200 f2.8 and a 400 f5.6 last year and started focussing a lot more on the birds... I think the appeal and style of photography required for photographing birds has a lot in common with large format photography - it requires patience and planning in your set-ups, previsualization of your final print, carrying 40 pounds of photogear, etc. (except that rather than coming home from a day out with 6 negatives, I have a card with 600 images to edit through!).
I have recently been handing over some of my hard earned cash to the likes of Arthur Morris and Alan Murphy for some of thier instructional materials and I have been learning in leaps and bounds and really seeing some great improvements in my digital images over these past few months. I am already saving my pennies for some big glass - I hope to be ready to put my money on the table in time for the spring migratory birds. I'll be looking for a used 500mm or 600mm - I'll see what I can find and what the budget dictates. Meanwhile, I am making out pretty well with the gear I have and am always looking forward to my next trip out. This winter (when the days are really short in northern Ontario), I should be busy working on another photo related project - I've obtained a good quality wet-mount scanner and will be working my way through 15-years worth of sheet film trying to get everything scanned and catalogued - perhaps you will see some on here in the Landscape forum...
Welcome to BPN Jeff! You've found the right place to grow as a wildlife photographer...and how can you go wrong with the likes of Artie and Alan and their instructional material:cool:. From what I've seen from you so far I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of good stuff!
Sounds like you're off to a great start, Jeff! Getting that "big glass" is very exciting and a real momentous occasion in the life of a bird photographer. Looking forward to seeing your images...
Hey Jeff, Great to see you here and thanks a ton for your membership support. And for the kind donations to BAA :) All greatly appreciated.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
ps: Your Harris's Sparrow image was superb! Let's see more.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,