nharrier
Active member
Ha, what a great question! I say it all the time. It has impeded my ability to have a carefree day in a way. I bring my spotting scope in most situations and binoculars in all situations and now my camera. It was so much fun birding without a camera, but now it's impossible as I'll kick myself if I miss a shot of a 'good' bird! I almost look forward to really bad light so I know to leave the camera in the truck! But on the other hand, when you get a really good shot, that makes everything worthwhile. But nothing beats just going out with a pair of binocs and no other equipment and I would NEVER go without binoculars into the field and they are my most important tool as I'm a birder first and foremost. As far as the length of time I'm willing to spend getting a shot, it depends on the bird and how bad I want to get a photo of it and how likely it is that I will get a good shot. But an hour is certainly not out of the question, though I hate to miss out on other birds in other areas. It can be quite overwhelming! One thing that Richard JSH did say really holds true for me. You kinda 'miss' the actual feeling of seeing a bird closeup while looking through the viewfinder even if you get a good shot. So many times I was shooting pics and after I felt a bit distressed as I didn't really observe the bird as much through the binocs. The worst part is when you see a flyby bird that you are trying to shoot and you miss the shot anyway when you could have been looking through the binocs and at least had a good look at it. Now I have tried to balance that out more and make sure I get some really good looks at the birds.
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