It recently crossed my mind for the first time that the number of factors that must be in alignment when trying to get great bird shots is staggering. First and foremost, there must be birds present and visible. Then there’s the necessity for light, all the better if it shines in the right direction. And to have good light, there must be at least decent weather. None of the foregoing can be taken for granted, and this is before one even begins to consider gear requirements.
Shooting the rest of the world is a good bit less demanding. Head out the door wearing a camera, with maybe a few different lens options in the bag, and subject matter becomes limitless, weather not a factor. And sometimes a shot can turn out to be more satisfying than it appeared to be when it was being captured.
Still, old habits die hard. With nothing longer than 200mm in the arsenal at the moment, there was a notion of adding an EF 300mm f/4 USM, the 1990’s version before IS. A 2X extender would make a very good 600mm f/8 combo. And then I thought:
“For what?”
Chasing birds, I’d sometimes go more than an hour in the field without clicking the shutter. Shooting short, it seems there’s almost always something interesting to capture, or at least an interesting way to capture something old. A different lens makes a different shot, as do other factors.
Strangest of all, and probably the most gratifying as well, doing a 180-degree turn photographically has seemed like a natural progression rather than a dramatic change. Hey, let’s go with the flow . . .
