Posted by Paul Gibbs on September 12, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Many of the people i meet while doing photography are bird spotters. When you ask what did they see, they reel off a few unusual birds and at some stage their pager beeps to say something rare has been spotted etc.
They some times look at me oddly after they ask me, "well there is a fantastic spot up the path on the left where if you sit quiet and put some crushed hazel nuts out, you'll see chaffinches or cole tits, oh and i spotted a hobby somewhere over there (vague pointing)...".
To them a hobby is great, to me a hobby is a spot on the horizon barely big enough to work out what it is. But being able to sit within about 2 meters of Chaffinches is interesting to me and like dog poo on your shoe to them.
Hi Paul,
Nice image with a bright and breezy feel to it.
I think along the same lines as yourself and get just as much pleasure photographing common species as I do scarcer ones.
Posted by John Robinson on September 12, 2008 at 4:16 PM
I agree too.
I think this image is a little bright and the OOF highlights on the perch are somewhat distracting.
You might get away with a vertical crop on this one.
500 mm with an extension tube at two metres !Crikey !
Cheers
JohnR
Agree with everything you say, Paul. A strange lot these birders: sometimes it seems as if they`re only interested in ticking off as many species as possible on their neverending lists, and then they`re off - not stopping to appreciate anything. They seem to reduce a love and appreciation of the natural world to a mere sport - ornithological trainspotters!
I was out photographing Stonechats this evening, and got some strange looks from passers-by with binoculars - as if to imply, `Why bother with anything that common?` I bumped into Barry Stewart - Glamorgan Bird Club stalwart, and author of `The Butterflies of Gower` - recently, and he asked what birding escapades I had been up to lately. When I told him I had been in a local park photographing Song and Mistle Thrushes, etc., his eyes glazed over and a smug smirk crossed his face, as if to say, `dude` (inexperienced birder). `They` are certainly a different species from us!
Posted by jack chapman on September 13, 2008 at 9:29 AM
very nice portrait, i agree i'd sooner enjoy a chaffinch 2m away to a hobby a mile away, but if it came down to a chaffinch 2m or a hobby 2m away i think i know which i'd remember longer
Discussion
4 repliesThey some times look at me oddly after they ask me, "well there is a fantastic spot up the path on the left where if you sit quiet and put some crushed hazel nuts out, you'll see chaffinches or cole tits, oh and i spotted a hobby somewhere over there (vague pointing)...".
To them a hobby is great, to me a hobby is a spot on the horizon barely big enough to work out what it is. But being able to sit within about 2 meters of Chaffinches is interesting to me and like dog poo on your shoe to them.
Anyway, D700 sigma 500mm f4.5 plus 20mm ext tube 1/250s ISO800
Nice image with a bright and breezy feel to it.
I think along the same lines as yourself and get just as much pleasure photographing common species as I do scarcer ones.
I think this image is a little bright and the OOF highlights on the perch are somewhat distracting.
You might get away with a vertical crop on this one.
500 mm with an extension tube at two metres !Crikey !
Cheers
JohnR
I was out photographing Stonechats this evening, and got some strange looks from passers-by with binoculars - as if to imply, `Why bother with anything that common?` I bumped into Barry Stewart - Glamorgan Bird Club stalwart, and author of `The Butterflies of Gower` - recently, and he asked what birding escapades I had been up to lately. When I told him I had been in a local park photographing Song and Mistle Thrushes, etc., his eyes glazed over and a smug smirk crossed his face, as if to say, `dude` (inexperienced birder). `They` are certainly a different species from us!