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Do cameras impede your birding freedom? (1 Viewer)

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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What a brilliant thread! Had no time to read the replies but I'll tell you that its horrid going on big birding trips with photographers. (I've done this in Poland and Croatia): We split now into two groups first thing and meet up again in the evening.
 
Keith Reeder said:
Not the same thing though, Larry?

I don't always want to be taking photographs either, but the gist of your question seemed to be "does wanting to take photos get in the way of just being a birder?" (a fair precis?), and it just doesn't.

I know that I see more of the "big picture" if I'm looking at it through a camera viewfinder.

If I'm looking through binoculars, all I am interested in is birds, and generally just "interesting" birds at that.

But through a camera, trees, buildings, landscapes, mammals, plants, people - everything - becomes interesting, and this is especially true of the common birds I might see.

They're just common birds through binoculars, but they're worthwhile photographic challenges though a camera.

Nope, I definitely see more of the "big picture" through a camera, and I get a similar sense from most of the other posts on the thread.

Interesting question though...

What a thoroughly interesting thread. I guess at the end of the day it really depends upon your attitudes to bird watching and what you want to get out of it. For me watching birds through binoculars is not really satisfying enough and there are many times when I do not take my binoculars at all. I am not really interested in birds that are so far away you can hardly see them. Also watching through binoculars is short term. I like to record what I see with my camera and can look back on it for a long time afterwards.
 
I have had mixed experiences. Certainly there have been times when my preoccupation with getting a good photo has marred a birding trip (notably a trip to see the Red Kites at Argaty - my wife had a great time with her binoculars and I spent too much time frustrating myself trying to photograph the kites in flight, and largely missed the experience).

Since then I've tried to have a better balance and yesterday and today were an illustration of the positive side, when I took trips to photograph a flock of waxwings in Edinburgh. The fact I was pointing a camera at the birds sparked a lot of interest from passers-by, who otherwise didn't pay them any attention but when they actually realised how exotic-looking the birds were, struck up conversation and seemed to really enjoy watching them and hearing a bit about them. One of the local residents thought that the trilling noise was one of her sons' electronic toys she couldn't locate!! I'd like to think it's this kind of thing that might spark someone's interest to start birding!
 
Chris Oates said:
...to admire with naked eye or glass assistance - bottom line is just being out there is enough.

I agree. Mind you, I only have an EOS 30E, my trusty film SLR, and my (underpowered) 300mm lens hasn't worked for a while. Over the last few months we've continued to keep an eye on the SE owls that came into the area. They fly too close for binoculars and watching them with sunlight shining through their wings is so unreal, you forget to take a photograph - you just can't help but watch them.
 
pandachris said:
I think Neil and Jurek have an interesting point. Although our Canon is "ours" insofar as we paid half each for it, I doubt that I've taken more than 500 of the 12,000+ images we've captured since then. The fact is, I'm probably better at quick IDs than Julie (she's better at birds that take us a long time to ID though) and she's a better photographer. I make sure that she's aware of anything interesting whilst she tries to get a decent shot. Seems to work quite well.

One thing I neglected to mention earlier with regard to photography enhancing birding - I well remember stopping in the Kruger NP in October to photograph a LBJ at the side of the road. It was a bit skulky and hard to get any clinching ID features but Julie got a dozen or so photos before a Red-crested Korhaan crossed the road in front of us, at which point we forgot about it. I've just been labelling up our photos (it's taken weeks) during an enforced day off work and the LBJ turned out to be a Sabota Lark - a common enough bird but the only one we saw in over three weeks. It also means that we creep even closer to the 400 mark for the trip, with a couple of ids still to confirm. Without the camera, we would not have identified this bird.

Cheers

Chris

Yep, been there a couple of times:

1. Small heron on bush at dusk in South Luangwa, two of us clicked away anyway during argument over ID (Dwarf Bittern or just immature Greenbacked-no Striated - whatever the African Green Heron is) pix showed classic Dwarf Bittern - which was a tick!

2. Same two birders, not a clue about a woodpecker in a bush in Etosha, one clear picture after the trip and an ID - and anothr tick.

Having said that don't take your camera on a "big day"!

Just do what you feel like doing and enjoy your birding.

John
 
I guess I started birding as a photographic excersize. I had my 300 2.8 with me in SW Florida to photograph the 12 hr race at Sebring, and decided I should take it along with me to the bird sanctuaries.

Then at night I would review the pictures, and go to a bookstore and look up what it was I had seen.

The last few years I have been hauling a 500 f4 into the woods, and enjoy birding quite a bit.

I also photograph less and less, choosing the best shots in good light, as I am not trying to identify things like I was early on.

With time I began to feel like I spent my whole time in the field looking through a viewfinder, because I essentially had.

I never had a good binocular until recently. In March I was in a preserve in Florida, and someone handed me a Leica 8x42 Trinovid to look at some yellow crown night heron's with, and I was amazed at how much brighter they were.

I have since bought a decent binocular, and I find I only bring the camera rig along about a third of the time when I go birding lately.
I am often kicking myself when certain great shots present themselves, but overall I think I enjoy the walks with the binoculars alone more (but then my camera and tripod alltogether weigh about 23 lbs).

How long have i spent waiting to get a great picture? Hours at a time on a regular basis, and as many as 5-6 hours on occassion. But I find I do the same when I only have binoculars along.
 
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