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A Poor Photographer's Bird Montage

3/27/2013

2 Comments

 
Last night I had the perfect post all set to go – seriously, all I had left to do was click “publish” – when I discovered that my entire diatribe was based on a misunderstanding. I straight-up just had the basic facts wrong, and as a result, the entire, carefully crafted and – trust me – stunningly elegant post had to be scrapped.

Balls.

So, like any self-respecting blogger whose spouse is out of town, I took off my pants, fixed myself a glass of bourbon and a PB&J, and settled in to plot my next move. On the one hand, I lacked the willpower to face the Sisyphean task of starting another post from scratch. But on the other hand, I figured a post related to birds (as opposed to fish) was probably overdue. So here’s what I’ve got.

A couple months ago I got me a dope new camera, the Canon EOS 60D, and a 70-300mm zoom lens. Since then, I’ve been screwing around trying to photograph birds without having any idea what I’m doing – with surprisingly satisfying results. But then I had an epiphany: What’s to stop me from also shooting videos without having any idea what I’m doing?

As far as I can tell, the answer is: nothing. So lately I’ve mixed a little video into my usual regimen of spray-and-pray photography, some of which I’ll share with you below. Now, the videos are a bit shaky – that’s because this is all hand-held. I don’t use a tripod much, because I like to wander around relatively unfettered. I like that I can throw my binoculars around my neck and my camera over my shoulder, and stay nimble while I enjoy the outdoors. You know, in case I need to scale a steep concrete river bank to get the perfect shot. Or run away from street toughs.

So they’re a little shaky. But they’ll give you a very small taste of the abundant bird life in Greater L.A. Enjoy?
2 Comments
Laurence Butler
4/2/2013 06:14:09 am

I'd say those hands are pretty steady, steady enough for surgery at least. I particularly liked the low-angled BNST shots.
I feel kindred to your spray-and-pray, occasional video philosophy, and dare say I too am a disciple of the unfettered photography approach.
Perhaps it doesn't 'crush' birds as hard, but it seems to 'crush' more birds lightly.

Hardcore birding, softcore photography. Pants off to ya sir!

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Josh Chapman link
4/2/2013 10:45:24 am

Not a reaction I would've expected to inspire, but a nice compliment. Thanks!

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