I created this site originally to display pictures of birds which I'd taken. It has subsequently expanded to
include a general natural history diary, and sections for butterflies, and dragonflies and damselflies.
Although I've been interested in birds and insects for many years, taking photographs of the former only
really began in 2004, when I acquired a Canon
300D digital SLR camera. When matched with a 300mm telephoto lens I found that I was
able to take acceptable shots of birds. But it quickly became obvious that that this was not sufficient for many subjects.
In 2007 I bit the bullet and bought a Canon 100-400mm image-stabilised lens, and
attached a Canon 400D body to it. With an effective focal length of 640mm a lot more
birds came into range.
My main camera body is currently a Canon 50D (15 megapixels). This can be matched with the Canon 100-400mm IS lens for
bird photography (this combination can be used for insects if an extension tube is attached), or a Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro lens, which is
used for insects. In the latter case I use a monopod for additional stability.
In an attempt to get more focal length, I have acquired a Canon 1.4x teleconverter. When used with the big Canon lens I get an effective
focal length of 896mm. The downside is that one F-stop is lost when the teleconverter is attached, so auto-focus won't work.
Taping the pins enables auto-focus again but it hunts quite a lot
and is useless in low light.
I usually record images in the camera's RAW format. Although this requires bigger memory cards and an extra
processing step, there are more options for 'tweaking' RAW format images. I use Canon's Digital Photo Professional
software to convert the images from RAW to TIFF format, and then Photoshop Elements 8 for post-processing.
I use the Neat Image noise
reduction program to clean up images destined for this web site.
I retain copyright on all images on this site (unless stated otherwise). Images may be downloaded for personal use. Please contact me regarding commercial use (see top right for address).
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