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Monthly Archives: September 2014

One with the Flock: Enhance!

Did the title “Enhance!” make you think about those police/spy TV shows where they can zoom in on a blurry photo of a parking lot and read a license plate? Good, because that’s basically what I’m thinking about. A big group of birds gives you lots of composition options, and it’s usually worthwhile to try …

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Birding Excursion

Here are some photos from a recent excursion we made to two great birding sites, Étang de la Baie Lucas and Étang de la Barrière. It was a great time and we had a chance to see many migratory species as well as many year-round resident species. Heading to the first site early, I had …

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One with the Flock: Spray and Pray

Whenever I am photographing birds, I take lots of photos. Even if it’s a bird sitting totally still, I may take five of the exact same shot because I’m usually near the limit of my equipment and often one of those five is going to be sharper and clearer than the others. Then I might …

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Bird Shots: One with the Flock

Another week, another Bird Shots column for The Weekender. This week, we take a look at group photos and how to make them work. They can be the hardest bird photos to take, but are often the most wonderful as well. Stay tuned right here for additional …

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The Second Subject: Conservation Messages

If you’re lucky, when you’re photographing birds you are enjoying nature and break from the trials and tribulations of the human world. If you’re on St. Martin, when you’re photographing birds, you are probably trying to find an angle where there’s no garbage in the frame. Sometimes, though, it is important to capture the mess …

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The Second Subject: Conservation Messages

If you’re lucky, when you’re photographing birds you are enjoying nature and break from the trials and tribulations of the human world. If you’re on St. Martin, when you’re photographing birds, you are probably trying to find an angle where there’s no garbage in the frame. Sometimes, though, it is important to capture the mess …

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The Second Subject: A Living Landscape

Often, capturing habitat means showcasing specific plants and animals that are key parts of a bird’s habitat and ecosystem. Mangroves are a great example. When it comes to tropical wetlands, mangrove trees are the critical organisms providing food and shelter, giving life and form to an ecosystem. Although they move around, a cow is part …

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The Second Subject: Close-up Wide Angle

This is something that I rarely do in bird photography because it usually is impossible to get close enough to a bird. With a nest, however, it is something that can work. Using a very wide angle lens, you can capture a nearby subject, like this nest, while also showcasing the whole scene around the …

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The Second Subject: The Minimum

Suppose you want to include habitat as a second subject in a bird photo, but also want to keep your photo simple: what’s the minimum you need to capture? There isn’t a specific answer to that question, but it is something to keep in mind. Composing a photo is often a battle between simplicity and …

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The Second Subject: Current Events

In addition to habitat in general being a second subject, specific phenomena can be a second subject, too. Below are a couple examples of photos that are about birds and also about the influx of sargassum that has hit the Caribbean several times in the last few years. This has been a significant occurrence, impacting …

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