About Me and My Gear

Introduction

I still feel I have a great deal to learn, both about birds and photographing birds, but I have listed and described here my photographic equipment, and to a certain extent my technique, in the hope that it may be of interest to beginners in bird photography. A lot of us make mistakes when first buying equipment and when first going out into the field; I certainly did, and still often do.

I have been interested in birds for as long as I can remember, although it has always been a casual interest really. I do not have a thorough knowledge of birds and struggle like the majority of casual birdwatchers to tell one Warbler from another, or to identify that winter wader at a distance.

The first camera I owned was a Zenith E single-lens-reflex (SLR). At the time I was interested in motor racing and most of my pictures (slides) were taken at Silverstone. Twenty years later I bought an Olympus SLR (I can't remember the model) and focused mainly on black and white, setting up my own darkroom. I remember at the time investigating the equipment I would need to go photographing birds, but I found the cost prohibitive.

My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix 885. I bought this to take pictures for a website I wanted to develop for work (it was never finished) and to take pictures when on holiday. I decided to buy a digital SLR and go photographing birds in May 2004. Initially I wasn't sure whether digital was the way to go for bird photography and spent a lot of time reading up on the subject. I read 'The Art of Bird Photography' by Arthur Morris, one of the best and most highly respected nature photographers in the world. This is an excellent book, but was first published in 1998, so digital was not an option and is not mentioned. Arthur Morris now shoots purely digital, and at the time of writing has just released 'The Art of Bird Photography II' including a chapter on Digital Basics.

Now, of course, by far the majority of professionals and amateurs of all levels shoot digital, but even for a while after buying my first digital SLR I wasn't sure if I had made the right decision. This was mainly due to the fact that my first images were of such poor quality!

My Equipment:

- Cameras

- Lenses

- Support (tripods, etc)

- Protection

- Hides

- Flash

- Bag

- Other equipment

Other:

- Digital workflow

- Books

Cameras

My first DSLR was the Canon EOS 10D. I only really considered Canon and Nikon equipment, and I chose Canon after reading 'The Art of Bird Photography' by Arthur Morris, who has used Canon equipment for decades. I also did some online research and the popular opinion was that Canon had the edge in auto-focus and image stabilisation.

I bought the 10D as it seemed like a good entry-level model and the price was about right. Considered a 'Pro-sumer' model, it was aimed at the serious enthusiast rather than the professional; it was replaced by the 20D (and now the 30D). I had no major complaints about the camera, although certain aspects of its performance began to frustrate me.

In continuous drive it would shoot a maximum of 3 frames per second (fps) and for a maximum of nine images. For birds on the move (e.g. flight), 3 fps is not really enough. Also, when the nine images have been taken, it seemed to take forever for the camera to release sufficient memory to take a further picture.

Where possible, I will check the histogram after taking the first shot before taking further shots, but it took the 10D too long to save the image to disk and make the histogram available for viewing.

After a visit to Pennington Flash I realised just how filthy the sensor was! Shoot at a small aperture against a plain background - the sky in low light, for example - if you want to see the contamination. I now use a test to check the cleanliness of my sensor. I use a clean sheet of A4 paper and draw a crosshair on it for focusing purposes. I put the piece of paper on a flat surface and mount my camera on a tripod, focusing on the crosshair. I then take a number of shots at a small aperture (the sensor will be fooled by the white paper and underexpose, so I compensate by a stop or two). After downloading them to my PC, any marks on the sensor will show up clearly in the image.

Although Canon recommend that their cameras should be returned to them for sensor cleaning, this is hardly practical, especially if it occurs on a regular basis - £20 to £50 with a 2-day to 2-week turnaround!. I attempted to clean the sensor myself, but with limited success (some marks remain), so was interested to read the 'Birds as Art' article about Lens Pens. I have also just read an article in the April 2006 edition of 'Digital Camera', in which the various sensor cleaning methods and tools are described. This article also lists the manufacturers of the equipment and their websites.

Although always intending to upgrade my camera, I was 'encouraged' to do so early when I bent one of the connecting pins on my 10D when reinserting the CF card. I later had the camera repaired by Lehmans in Stoke-on-Trent for £150, and now use it as a spare.

I was unsure of which way to go, as it seems that, currently at least, there is a significant compromise between speed of shooting and image file size. I went for the Canon EOS 1D Mark II N. The 1DS is simply too expensive and arguably the file sizes unnecessarily large for me.

The 1D has a shooting rate of 8.5fps and a 22 RAW image burst. The speed of response of this camera is amazing. 22 images is plenty for action shots and the memory is released and images (including histograms of course) made available for reviewing extremely quickly.

Lenses

EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM

My first lens was the Canon EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM. My idea was to use this in conjunction with 1.4x and 2x extenders, giving me a focal-length range from 70 to 400mm. However, I soon learned that with bird photography, I would always want the maximum focal length and would therefore always have the 2x extender attached. With this setup I wasn't able to take any acceptably sharp images, and convinced myself that this was purely down to the equipment and not my lack of experience.

More often than not, the review of any zoom lens will often include a comment such as "...although sharp, you would not expect a zoom lens to be as sharp as a prime lens..." Often, zoom lenses are at their worst when the lens is working at the longest focal length and at the widest aperture, both of which are often essential when photographing birds. Combine these factors with the inevitable degradation caused by the extender, and sharp images will be few and far between.

Fortunately, my zoom lens was faulty! My camera would seize up on continuous mode and a fault code would appear. Rebooting the camera solved the problem temporarily, but the situation was unacceptable. I hired an EF 300 f4L IS USM for the weekend and the camera-lens combination worked perfectly, so I concluded that the problem was with the lens.

It was a long and uncomfortable struggle to get the retailer to accept responsibility for the faulty lens, but eventually (after threatening legal action) I was able to exchange the zoom lens for the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM and the 16-35 f2.8L USM.

EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

Arthur Morris raves about this lens and describes it as his 'toy lens'. It is not image stabilised and has a maximum aperture of only 5.6, but this makes it very lightweight and easy to handhold when required. It is an excellent lens for flight photography.

I dare say that image stabilising would help to ensure sharpness in more of my images, but with greater care it is still possible to obtain pin-sharp images with this lens.

Another limiting factor is the minimum focusing distance of 3.5 metres. Although small birds only rarely get this close, I have lost some chances, for example at feeding stations. In these situations I now use an extension tube (see below).

If I had to start again with the same budget? I would definitely choose this lens!

EF 200mm f2.8L II USM

I bought this lens after visiting the Walney Island gull nesting-colony a few times. I find that my 400mm lens is too long for this situation and it is difficult to get the whole bird in the frame, particularly with flight shots. I also found it useful on the Farne Islands. It is possible to handhold this lens in all but the most extreme situations, although the 400mm lens collar will fit this lens if I need to mount it on a tripod.

My first impression of the lens was that it was 'contrasty', but I now put that down to the lighting conditions on the day.

EF 16-35 f2.8L USM

I thought this would be useful for landscapes if the opportunity arose when out and about, but I haven't used it very often. This probably has something to do with the fact that changing from one lens to the other in the field can be awkward and may result in missed opportunities to photograph birds. In fact, I often have my Nikon Coolpix with me, and most of the landscape pictures in the locations section were taken with this camera.

Extenders

I bought the 1.4x and 2x extenders for use with my original zoom lens, as described above. My 400mm f5.6 lens will not autofocus with either of the extenders fitted, although it is possible to 'fix' the 1.4x extender so it will autofocus, albeit slowly and with more 'hunting'. This is done by taping over the left three communications pins on the extender (hold the extender with the extender-to-lens pins facing you and at the top).

In the early days I rarely used either extender, as I was never able to get an acceptable result with the 2x converter on my 400mm lens, and there was a noticeable deterioration in quality when the 1.4x extender was used. However, these problems were probably due to my poor technique, and I now regularly use the 1.4x extender, always on a tripod of course. I still cannot get a good image with the 2x extender, but this does rely on manual focusing and my eyesight is not perfect.

Extension Tubes

These were a later purchase, as I found the closest focusing distance of the 400mm lens (3.5 metres) resulted in some lost opportunities. When setting out to photograph perching birds, I will often have the 12mm tube attached for the day. As the lens will no longer focus to infinity, this can sometimes mean lost opportunities with bigger birds at a greater distance, but this occurs less often than would the close-focusing dilemma.

I hope in the not too distant future to have the 600mm f4.0 IS lens. I have used one for a day and although it was a handful, the results were worth the effort.

Support - Tripods etc

When not taking flight shots, I always have my 400mm lens supported. I have the Gitzo G1320 MkII tripod, which is aluminium, a G1578L carbon-fibre monopod, and the Jobu Skorpion Ground Pod.

After using my heavy aluminium tripod for some time, I purchased the carbon-fibre monopod, which I favoured for some time, but it did not provide sufficient stability in lower light conditions. I now rarely use my monopod, but it sits in the boot of my car just in case.

I am 6' 4" tall, so I bought the largest tripod that Gitzo produce. I bought the aluminium version for price reasons, although I don't find the weight a big issue now, as I'm a fairly big bloke and manage the tripod with relative ease. Perhaps if I treat myself to a 600mm f4L IS, I might have a different view!

I set the leg height such that I can use the tripod as a 'monopod' if I'm in a hurry, but with the legs spread, the height is still comfortable for me without needing to make adjustments.

The tripod came with a long centre column, which is not recommended. It is better to have a tripod that is plenty tall enough without a centre column (which the G1320 MkII is), as this provides greater stability than a shorter tripod with raised centre column. Also, the longer centre column does not allow the tripod to spread to a very low level when required. I have since purchased a short centre column - the Gitzo G035 - so I am now able to sit the tripod almost flat on the ground.

Ball Heads

For medium length lenses, I think a ball-head is the best option. I once hired a pan-and-tilt (3-way) head for the day and it was a bit of a nightmare. When I wanted to pan with the camera, unless I was on perfectly flat ground (never the case), the individual leg-length had to be adjusted every time I put the tripod down, otherwise the camera and lens would rotate as I panned. The alternative was to adjust the side-to-side position of the head whenever the pan position changed, for which three hands are required!

I rushed into my first ball head and bought the Gitzo G1378M to match my tripod. It has a quick-release adapter and I purchased a separate quick-release plate. However, there was no secure way of attaching the quick release plate to my 400mm lens, and I almost dropped the lens on a number of occasions. I would frequently have to stop and tighten the screw holding the lens in place.

I then bought a Kirk BH-1 and a Wimberley P-20 quick-release plate. The quick-release plate fastens securely to my 400mm lens and the safety stops at the front and back of the plate prevent the lens from slipping out of the quick-release adapter if I forget to tighten the adapter clamp. I can now relax when the tripod and lens are thrown across my shoulder.

Having said this, I found the Kirk head harder to work with than the Gitzo head. The movement was jerky, which made precise positioning difficult, and the locking knob required several turns before it locked or unlocked the ball. Locking and unlocking the ball also adjusted the friction knob, and vice versa, and I often had the camera and lens falling over. I eventually decided to combine the Gitzo ball-head with the Kirk quick-release adapter, so I now have the best of both.

Ground-Pod

When crawling along the ground to get close to a bird with just my camera and lens, I often arrive out of breath and with my arms shaking with fatigue. In these circumstances it is difficult to hold the lens steady if there is no convenient rock or mound of earth to rest the lens on. The foot on my 400mm lens is not tall enough to rest on the ground and allow me to see through the viewfinder, so the lens has to be held off the ground.

I first looked at the Walt Anderson Panning Ground Pod, available from the 'Birds as Art' website. As far as I am aware, this product is not available in the UK, but I thought the design was over-complicated for my 400mm lens, so I decided to make my own, simple version from drilled stainless steel and a Kirk 3" standard quick-release platform. This worked well for support, but didn't allow me to release the camera and lens if I needed to.

I now have the Jobu Skorpion Ground Pod. It's actually a bit big for my 400mm lens and is probably better suited to the 500 and 600 lenses, but if I'm settling down for a few hours on the ground, it's ideal. With my Kirk BH-1 Ball head attached it is just the right height for ground shots.

Wimberley Sidekick

The use of a ball-head produces a top-heavy setup; unless the ball-head is used carefully it is easy for the camera and lens to topple over. This is more of an issue with bigger, heavier lenses, such as the 500 and 600mm telephotos. Wimberley produce the Gimbal Head (now version II), which is designed for these longer lenses, and the 'Sidekick' for smaller telephotos, which converts a ball-head with Arca-Swiss style quick-release plate into a gimbal head.

I bought the sidekick, as I thought it might make positioning the lens easier and allow smoother panning when following running birds, e.g. waders, and low-flying birds. The lens certainly feels better balanced and movement is much smoother, although I would prefer a slightly tighter feel. My biggest disappointment with the setup, however, which I didn't predict, was the fact that when panning, the camera and lens will rotate unless the tripod is positioned perfectly level. It is the same problem experienced with the 3-way (pan-and-tilt) heads. I therefore use the Sidekick only when on level ground or when setting up in one position for a significant amount of time, which makes it worth the effort to level the tripod. I would imagine that the experience is similar with the Gimbal Head for heavier lenses?

Padded Tripod Leg Wraps

I bought these leg-wraps, not for the camouflage (the legs of my tripod are quite dark), but to protect my shoulders. I always carry my tripod over my shoulder with the camera and lens attached, and without the leg-wraps, my shoulders would hurt if walking any distance. The wraps, from wildlife watching supplies, make a big difference.

Protection

Getting caught out in the rain is not uncommon. The simplest and cheapest way to prepare for this is to carry a heavy-duty bin-liner and throw it over the camera, lens and tripod when it rains.

When at the coast I would frequently get home to find sand in every nook and cranny in the camera, so I decided to get some protection other than a bin-liner that could be left in place during use. I first tried the C40 and C40.5 loose fitting camera and lens covers from wildlife watching supplies, but I found these awkward to use; the covers are not designed to fit tightly and would often slip off and/or get in the way when using the camera.

I then purchased a C5 Dust Bag, also from wildlife watching supplies and modified it. The dust bag is designed to completely enclose the camera and lens and to protect them from dust, dirt and moisture. The camera and lens have to be removed from the bag completely before use; a drawstring is used to open and close the bag.

I asked a friend to modify the dust bag so that it could be left on the camera and lens during use. She cut a hole in the end and sewed a strip of elastic into the opening. This elastic is wrapped around the lens hood. Another small hole was cut underneath the bag and strengthened with stitching to allow the quick-release plate to be attached to the lens when the bag is in place. On my last visit to the wildlife watching supplies website, I noticed that they now offer this product!

The bag can still completely enclose the camera if required, and only the end of the lens hood is exposed. When the camera is in use, the bag is positioned such that it protects the majority of the camera from dust, sand, etc, but exposes the important camera controls. The bag has to be undone only when changing the camera position to portrait or when access to the lens switches (focus mode and distance range) is required.

A useful side-effect of this dust bag is that it hides the white lens and may make a difference when approaching birds.

Hides

I made a decision early on not to use a personal hide, as I thought it would be awkward to carry and to set up and its use may not always be appreciated / allowed. Arthur Morris talks of how he was determined to succeed without the use of a blind by laying on his belly in mud and crawling towards the birds. However, in his book 'Bird Photography', David Tipling says that certain parts of North America are amongst "the easiest places on the planet to photograph birds". Perhaps this makes the use of a blind unnecessary.

I have recently purchased two 'blinds'. The first is a C30.1 Dome Hide from Wildlife Watching Supplies. At 5' square at the base, it is the largest version of the dome hides they produce, which will have its disadvantages, but I am a big bloke and it will be nice to sit in the hide comfortably and have all my gear with me, and a flask of coffee and muffins too, of course. It has three windows and uses poles and can be pegged to the ground in windy weather.

The second hide is the C33 Medium Bag Hide; a proofed bag, which is just thrown over the photographer and camera. It has one window and a large opening at the front for the lens, with velcro adjustment. This sounds very versatile and convenient, but it's actually a little awkward. The bag sits directly on my head, I cannot see to the side or behind me, I cannot have a drink or anything to eat inside the hide without a great deal of effort and care, and it gets very warm, especially in warm weather! I suppose it's just designed to throw over photographer and camera when speed is important, but in my mind a hide is more often used when patience and time are more important than speed. I'm sure this hide will have its uses, but I can't see it being used very often.

I have also bought three pieces of 'leafscreen', one of which I use over my house window when photographing birds in the garden. I have to get fairly close to the birds with my 400mm lens and they're sometimes spooked, so the screen allows me to see the birds, but the birds are not able to see me (although this isn't always the case!).

Another piece of leafscreen I use to make a hide, and this is the most versatile setup I have. I use it with between three and eight fibreglass tent-poles. If I want a hide I can sit up in, I'll stack two tent poles in each corner (the poles are 625mm long). If I want to lie down in the hide and be better hidden, I'll just use one pole in each corner. Sometimes I'll have three corners (a triangular setup) and sometimes four.

The leafscreen comes in strips, so I bought a long piece, cut it in half, and tied it together to make a large square. I simply drape the leafscreen over the poles (I use 'c-clips' on top of the poles) and peg the screen down with tent pegs. With this setup I can see in all directions, I can eat and drink, and I stay cool. Ok, in the winter I'm cold, but that's usually the case wherever I'm sat, so I always go well prepared. The equipment is lightweight and easy to carry in my Lowepro bag.

Flash

I decided to get a flash unit after reading about the benefits of fill-flash, particularly in harsh lighting conditions. I have the Canon Speedlite 550EX and also bought the 'Better Beamer' flash extender, which is recommended for telephoto lenses of 300mm or longer.

I have read the theory and have tried it in practice, but I confess to being a little baffled by this subject at the moment. Whatever I do with the setup, the flash and Better Beamer don't seem to have any effect on the final image.

The situation isn't helped by the fact that the flashgun simply cannot keep up with the modest 3fps continuous shooting. Because the unit gets through batteries at an alarming rate (two sets of four batteries a day if used continuously), I bought a set of rechargeable nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries and a battery charger. The flashgun is actually a little slower using these batteries, but this method is much cheaper.

I need to go back to basics on this subject, read up on it again, read the camera and flash manual, experiment with the Better Beamer in consistent conditions, and investigate the available battery power-pack options.

Update 08/07/2006. I now have the E3 Compact Battery Pack. It takes 8 AA batteries and should better keep up with continuous shooting. It can be located in the camera's tripod socket or attached to the tripod leg with the velcro straps. You can also get a second battery magazine to hold a further 8 batteries, making replacing batteries very quick.

Bag

When I first received my Lowepro Pro Trekker AWII I thought I'd made a mistake and bought a bag that was too big. I've since added to my equipment and this certainly isn't the case.

More often than not I use this bag to store equipment in when I go away for more than a day, and use my Nature Trekker when I'm out and about for the day.

I later bought the smaller Lowepro Nature Trekker, which I use when I don't need to carry all my equipment. I carry everything I need for the day, including my lunch and a flask of coffee, so I attach lens pouches if I need more room.

Other

Battery Grip BG-ED3 for the 10D - holds two batteries for extended use and has exposure lock, focus point selection, and shutter release buttons for use when the camera is held in the vertical (portrait) orientation.

Spare batteries - for the 10D, three spare (four batteries in total), used in pairs. For the 1D, one spare battery.

Battery chargers - for the 10D I have a single charger (came with the camera) and bought a double charger. I bought the double charger, as I thought it would be quicker (described as a "double fast charger" when I bought it), but it only recharges one battery at a time. Another, single charger would have been equally effective, and cheaper.

Memory cards - 1 x 2GB and 3 x 1Gb cards, all are LEXAR with the exception of a 1GB SanDisk Ultra. I have only once used all of this memory at one time, when I spent a day at Martin Mere WWT.

Digital Workflow

I always shoot in RAW, even though the workflow is longer, because of all the advantages it offers. The JPEG v RAW debate is well covered on the Internet and Andy Rouse has included an analysis in his book 'Digital SLR Masterclass'.

The following is a brief overview of my workflow.

Downloading

When I first started using my digital SLR I used the interface cable that came with the camera. The camera battery needed to be sufficiently charged before the process could begin. One end of the cable was inserted into the camera's 'digital' terminal and the other to a USB port on my PC. This would start up Canon 'ZoomBrowser', software that shipped with the camera, from where I would browse to, and download, the images from the camera to my PC. The 10D produces RAW files of around 6MB. When the process had started, I could go and make dinner (that's right, dinner!). A single image would take about 25 seconds to download. 300 images on a 2GB card; more than 2 hours!

I read 'Digital Basics' by Arthur Morris, and bought myself a high-speed card reader - the Delkin eFilm DDReader-27. There are many examples of these card readers available. Each image now downloads in approximately 1 second; so 300 images are now downloaded in less than the time I need to make a cup of tea.

The images are downloaded using Downloader Pro by Breeze Systems. This software allows me to automate many of the tasks and rename each file with something more meaningful than the filename given by the camera. The files are saved to a folder with a name made up of the date and location, and the date and location are added to the folder name. The software also gives me the option of saving the 'Exchangeable Image File Format' (EXIF) data to a text file, which I find useful for updating my image database.

Reviewing

I review the images using BreezeBrowser Pro, again by Breeze Systems. This software allows me to view individual images, or groups of images in the form of a slideshow. At this stage any no-hopers are deleted. Deleting the file from within BreezeBrowser also deletes the associated '.THM' file (thumbnail image) and EXIF text file.

I now convert the keepers to 'Tagged Image File Format' (TIFF) files from within Breezebrowser. It is possible to make a number of adjustments to the file during conversion, including saturation, contrast and sharpness, but I prefer to make these adjustments, where necessary, in Photoshop. BreezeBrowser creates a sub-folder in the image folder and names it 'Converted'.

Editing

Editing is done in Photoshop CS. I follow the advice given in 'Digital Basics' by Arthur Morris, which gives tips on how to adjust shadow-highlight, levels, curves, saturation, etc, and sharpening for web and print. I rarely print images, so my workflow is designed to produce images, including thumbnails, for the Web. I use Photoshop 'actions' (an action is a self-recorded series of commands completed with a single button click) wherever possible, including to prepare both a smaller version of the finished image and a thumbnail for use on the website.

Generally, I try not to 'over-process' images. I don't want an image that is clearly heavily edited and has an artificial quality, or an image that is obviously over-sharpened. However, some digital photographers deliberately aim for a slightly unreal look in their images and the results can be spectacular.

Storage

I am not, and never will be, a professional photographer, but I would still be devastated to lose all my images; so I need to make sure they are adequately backed up.

All RAW images are saved in folders named with the date and location, e.g. '2005_12_25-Pennington_Flash'. Each of these files contains a sub folder named 'Converted', which contains the converted and edited images. Because the folders are saved by date, the files in these folders will never be added to, so the folders and files can be backed up to a DVD disk without the need to create more space in the future. If files are saved in folders named after bird species, images will be added to the folders on a regular basis, which means that backing up will be tricky. For example, it may be possible initially to store the images of a number of species on one disk, but eventually if may be necessary to save the images of an individual species on more than one disk.

I can quickly find an image because of my database of images. For example, I can query the database for a particular species and this will return all the relevant images and filenames. I can then easily find the image I need using the filename and path in the database.

I will consider external hard-drives when my internal hard-drives are full, but I will use these for the originals and not for backing up. I will continue to use DVD disks for backing up, as it is easy and cheap to produce multiple copies and to store these in an alternative location if I feel it necessary.

Books

I have listed below the digital and / or bird photography books I own and have read. I would like to offer a detailed opinion on every book, but for the comments to have any meaning I would need to read them all again! I've gained something from reading each of them.

The books are listed in the order I obtained them.

1. Arthur Morris (1998), The Art of Bird Photography. New York: Amphoto Books.

2. Scott Kelby (2003), The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers. Berkeley: Peachpit Press.

3. Adobe (2004), Adobe Photoshop CS, Classroom in a Book. Berkeley: Peachpit Press.

4. Andy Rouse (2004), Digital SLR Masterclass. Lewes: Photographers' Institute Press.

5. Tom Ang (2004), Digital Photographer's Handbook. London: Dorling Kindersley.

6. Chris Gomersall (2001), Photographing Wild Birds. Newton Abbot: David Charles.

7. Simmons RE, Littlehales B (2002), Photography Field Guide: Birds. Washington: National Geographic.

8. David Tipling (2005), Bird Photography. Lewes: Photographers' Institute Press.

9. Steve Young (2001), An Essential Guide to Bird Photography. Lewes: Guild of Master Craftsman Pubs. Ltd.