Red Bishop 002
On a recent trip to a nearby nature reserve, I had the opportunity to photograph a bird that I have wanted to try capture in the camera since I was a kid shooti...
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On a recent trip to a nearby nature reserve, I had the opportunity to photograph a bird that I have wanted to try capture in the camera since I was a kid shooting on an old, used film camera with manual focus lenses.
At long last I was able to grab a few frames of one while walking to one of the hides.
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At long last I was able to grab a few frames of one while walking to one of the hides.
Read less
Jan, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photograph at a small nature reserve, just short of an hour from where I stay in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are fortunate in South Africa, to have several nature reserves within easy reach of many of our major cities.Time
This image was taken in the late morning. The area around the path to the bird hide is surrounded by tall reeds that tower above you. These areas becoming the natural high rises for weaver birds like this Red Bishop, to build their nests in large groups. If you hang around long enough for sunset, the masses of birds returning to their nest causes a loud ruckus that seems like nature's equivalent of a peak hour, traffic congested, downtown scene.Lighting
When shooting wildlife you do not always have control over the direction of light and so patience with a spoon of luck can go a long way. On this particular occasion, I was blessed with luck. This bird chose to face the late morning light and hang around enough for several images to be taken.Equipment
This image was taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 body and 40-150mm. It was taken handled while walking to one of the bird hides in the reserve.Inspiration
Birding is what got me into photography in my teens and I have early memories of visiting a dam at a local park, frustrated by the limitations of my equipment at the time to photograph the Red Bishops building their nests on a small island in the middle of the small body of water. With this background, I could not believe my luck (after all these years) when this little Red Bishop, landed right in front of me and hung around for a couple of poses before carrying on with the day? tasks.Editing
Because of how much I have travelled for work over the last year or two, I have moved most of my workflow to mobile. In this instance, I copied the image over from the Eye-Fi SD card, to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and then made some slight exposure adjustments with Snapseed. From there it is quick and easy to upload images to social media or have them backed up to Google Photos.In my camera bag
After many many years of severe GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome), I own, and carry, very little camera gear these days. I currently do well over half of my photography on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 17mm f/1.8. I also carry the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 when I need a little extra reach. Since I have been travelling so much for work, this combination has been small and light enough to travel with. I miss my 75mm f/1.8, but used it seldom. I mostly find myself these days, wishing I had a wider, 12mm f/2.0 for my street and children photography. When I get the chance to go shoot some wildlife, I will loan or hire a lens as required.Feedback
In this particular instance, the best advice I could give is to always be prepared. Sometimes fortunes favours us with a great photo opportunity, but you have to be ready to get the image. On this occasion, I was fortunate in such a way. My camera was on and I knew how to change what I needed when I needed to get the image I would like.
