Finally, I am birding again........

I took half day leave on Thursday, 2nd April 2009, as I could not wait any longer to test my new lens. I made arrangement with a person I met in a bird photography forum so that I could learn from him......

When he (rey) saw me, he was surprised to see that I am a lady. I use a "nickname" in the forum. He asked me why I bought this huge lens (500mm) instead of a 300mm...I said it was the advice of those in the forum. I had initially decided on a 300mm but someone replied that it was not enough for bird photography, and said I should get at least 400mm....I got the 500mm.. :-). Rey said that the advices were given on the assumption that I am a MALE. I guess he was right...the weight of the lens (almost 4 kg), the tripod and head (another 1kg +), and camera + flash + etc (almost 1kg)....nearly killed me that day...we walked quite deep into the forest to look for kingfisher....we didnt see any! ha ha. It is still a good day for me to go on a field trip with him. And luckily he checked my setup - I didnt fasten in the tripod head tight enough.....I just cant imagine if my lens dropped on the ground..........oh dear dear me... Needless to say, my shoulder ached for 3 days and I am almost certain it was bruised!

I did a bit of DIY on my tripod - bought a sponge from Daiso $2 shop and strapped it onto my tripod legs where they rested on my shoulder....it worked...it really felt so much better now. But it is real ugly....need to think how to DIY it better....might end up buying the real stuff, maybe.

So, on Saturday, I contacted another person from the forum who agreed to take me out bird photographing. This time, I thought he was a lady (from his name...French has a way of naming a guy name in a lady's spelling...ha ha). Anyway, I again had great fun photographing birds....one thing I need to note though....photographers go without lunch on field trips! Luckily I had brought some chocolates....Next time, I will pack some sandwiches.

Ok....still a beginner in bird photography...need to adjust / fine tune the settings...but I was just so excited and started triggering the shutter release the moment I see a bird that I forgot all the rules of nature photography...Well, I guess I will learn as I go out more....

A Collared Kingfisher - this was heavily cropped as the birds were far across the lake...too far to have good quality image...


This is a spiderhunter - I think we spent more than 2 hours sitting and waiting for it to turn up...it came regularly, but only stayed for a few seconds before it flew off again....but each time it came, I would jump to my camera setup and just fire the shutter away......ho ho ho....

The spiderhunter again...this time, she posed nicely for me...

I am still not pleased with my output as most of my other pictures didnt achieve the sharpness that this lens could deliver....and, practice makes perfect....I believe!