DON’T BE TRAPPED BY A MIND-SET…

I have seen this prejudice rear its ugly head too many times.

This was copied from Art Morris Birds as Art http://www.birdsasart.com/bn301.htm

DON’T BE TRAPPED BY A MIND-SET…

You need a long telephoto lens to make great images of bird, right? Lots of folks believe that.

After all, I could not have created this tight head portrait of a juvenile Osprey with a short lens:

Osprey, close-up of juvenile, Indian Lake Estates, FL
Image Copyright 2009: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 320. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/11 set manually. Rig supported by the BLUBB (Big Lens Ultimate BeanBag). Bird photography at ILE is usually fair to lousy, but in early spring there are nesting Sandhill Cranes and in late spring there usually a few young Ospreys around. 2009 was a phenomenally productive year for this species. It took some careful driving to get my SUV into the perfect position…. If you wish to make sharp images from your vehicle, nothing else comes close to the BLUBB: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=12

So to repeat: you need a long telephoto lens to create great images of bird, right?

Well, my final answer is no, you do not need a long lens to create great images of birds.

Shorter lenses are often the best tools for capturing birds in flight and in action, and even wide angles can be ideal for creating bird-scapes, small in the frame photographs that include an avian subject or subjects along with lots of beautiful habitat, dramatic lighting, or both.

Of the 30 images that are currently slated for my next gallery exhibit at the Bok Tower here in Lake Wales in early 2010, 8 were made with lenses with focal lengths of 400mm or less, and only two of those were made with a 400mm focal length. Both “Blizzard in Blue” (created with my old “toy lens”, the 400mm f/5.6L, at Bosque) and “Gannets in Love” (captured with the tripod-mounted 400mm f/4 IS DO lens at Bonaventure) have garnered major contest awards.

Here are some perfect examples of great images created with even shorter lenses:

Osprey, nest, and Cypress Trees, Lake Blue Cypress, FL
Image Copyright 2009: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Canon 24-105mm IS L zoom with the full frame EOS-1Ds MII handheld at 100mm. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/1600 at f/2.8.

Bald Eagle in flight over mountains and bay, Homer, AK
Image Copyright 2009: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS zoom with the full frame EOS-1Ds MII handheld at 120mm. ISO 250. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/1000 at f/6.3 set manually.

Snow Geese and dramatic clouds, Bosque Del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM
Image Copyright 2008: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Canon 28-300mm IS L zoom lens with the EOS-1D MIII handheld at 50mm. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/1000 at f/8.

None of the three images immediately above could have been created had I been standing behind a long tripod-mounted telephoto lens. Learn to see creatively, to recognize potential short lens situations, and to use the shorter focal length lenses effectively to create great images.

Learn lots more on this topic by purchasing and studying a copy of “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32. And remember, good photographers create good images with whatever camera and lens they have in their hands.

I have copied the text here, but you have to go to the article to see the photos http://www.birdsasart.com/bn301.htm