GaryT48's photostream  

I have been a birdwatcher ( I don't really like the term birder very much) since I was 17 years old, which was 45 years ago. I started taking photographs of birds at about the same time, but to be honest, I had a lot of problems with it until the digital age came along. I believe the change from film to digital was the greatest thing ever to happen to wildlife photography. Many of my older bird photographs are digiscoped -- shot through a spotting scope with a P&S camera. I get some very good photographs and have won several contests with them, both on a national and international level. I am currently the webmaster for the Tiadaghton Audubon Society in Tioga County Pennsylvania, and the local compiler/coordinator for National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count. I also lead bird walks for DCNR/ Bureau of State Parks as a volunteer in April and May and organize/lead walks for the local Audubon Society through most of the warmer months. Many of my photographs are taken for educational purposes, but I have always been amazed by how beautiful some of the most ordinary birds look through a good set of binoculars, and this is what I try to capture in my photographs.

P.S. Most of my photographs have been sized and captioned so that they look good as a slide show. Note that they are copyrighted.

Digiscoping equipment: For a scope I use a Nikon Fieldscope IIIED with a 25x fixed focus, digiscoping eyepiece. My older pictures are taken with a Nikon E5600, the newer ones with a Nikon P5100. The P5100 has 12 megapixels and most of the functions of a DSLR.

Other equipment: Nikon D5000 DSLR with 18-55-mm kit lens and Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300/4.5-5.6G IF-ED telephoto. This has become my workhorse. You can get many effective bird pictures with a 300-mm lens and a bit of patience.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35. P&S camera when I need something small and light-weight. This one has excellent auto-focus speed.

Canon S3IS. Retired when it broke down the second time. Not enough megapixels, but it did make some nice photographs.

Downloads: All of my photographs are copyrighted and I have limited downloads to contacts only, but if you are not on my list and would like a copy of something, please let me know. I don't charge for personal or non-commercial use, but I would like to know when and how my photographs are used.