About Us
We live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We get into the country on weekends, birding, picnicking, sight-seeing - whatever strikes our fancy. We are novice birders who enjoy taking good photos of what we see. In terms of birding, our goal is certainly not to see or photograph every bird species that breeds in or migrates through the province, and we're not good enough to make lists of species to check off - but we do enjoy seeing new species from time to time (our highlights so far have been Ferruginous Hawk, White-faced Ibis, Short-eared Owl, Long-billed Curlew, and Black-crowned Night Heron). It's just fun for us. Having said that, we have photographed a total of 156 species in Alberta so far (so according to The Official List of Birds of Alberta, we have 270 species to go - although 119 of those are classified as "rare/accidental", extirpated, or extinct). Not bad - but does it make us experts on those species? Not even remotely - although we learn more every time we go out.
Equipment
We pursue our hobby frugally. Birding can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. Most of these pictures were taken with a Canon SX50 HS, a surprisingly good camera (it's been superseded by two newer models, now) which we obtained through AirMiles. Is it the best camera for birders on the market today, capable of tack-sharp publication-quality shots under the lowest lighting conditions? Absolutely not - it doesn't compare in terms of image quality and features with professional DSLRs and prime lenses. But is it small, light-weight, rugged enough for prolonged use, and relatively easy to master? You bet. Does it suit our budget and non-professional needs? 100%. More to the point, are the photographs it takes of a good enough quality to please most people? We think so, and we really hope you'll enjoy these (although the distant photos of diving ducks leave a lot to be desired).
Update (July 21, 2019): Our five year-old SX50 died today near the beginning of a day's outing. Apparently the shutter broke, which is to be expected eventually with any camera with a mechanical shutter. We have taken over 50,000 images with the camera, and sources I have read suggest that the shutter on an enthusiast-level camera like this one can be expected to last 30,000 images or so, so we feel fortunate (particularly as the camera was free through Air Miles!). So we went back to Air Miles and ordered a replacement, the two generations newer SX70, which has a few more bells and whistles (and possibly lesser image quality - that remains to be seen). We are comfortable both with the Canon cameras and with the form factor of a bridge camera, as the results have worked for us so far. Wish us luck with the new camera!
Since the camera(s) we use is a super-zoom, most photos were taken with a small jury-rigged monopod inside our car or mounted on a Slik Able 300ST tripod outdoors (a $40 Kijiji find). Some pictures, like the one above, were done in the early 1990s using a Mamiya medium-format camera (remember the days of film?) and scanned in recently using an Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner. All processing was done using Paint.net, an easy but full-featured open-source program.
Since one of us is in a wheelchair, we bird and shoot mainly from our car. Incidentally, we do also use a pair (yes, just one) of Nikon Action 10 x 50 binoculars (a friend gave us a used spotting scope a few years ago, but it was stolen from our truck).
Update (July 21, 2019): Our five year-old SX50 died today near the beginning of a day's outing. Apparently the shutter broke, which is to be expected eventually with any camera with a mechanical shutter. We have taken over 50,000 images with the camera, and sources I have read suggest that the shutter on an enthusiast-level camera like this one can be expected to last 30,000 images or so, so we feel fortunate (particularly as the camera was free through Air Miles!). So we went back to Air Miles and ordered a replacement, the two generations newer SX70, which has a few more bells and whistles (and possibly lesser image quality - that remains to be seen). We are comfortable both with the Canon cameras and with the form factor of a bridge camera, as the results have worked for us so far. Wish us luck with the new camera!
Since the camera(s) we use is a super-zoom, most photos were taken with a small jury-rigged monopod inside our car or mounted on a Slik Able 300ST tripod outdoors (a $40 Kijiji find). Some pictures, like the one above, were done in the early 1990s using a Mamiya medium-format camera (remember the days of film?) and scanned in recently using an Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner. All processing was done using Paint.net, an easy but full-featured open-source program.
Since one of us is in a wheelchair, we bird and shoot mainly from our car. Incidentally, we do also use a pair (yes, just one) of Nikon Action 10 x 50 binoculars (a friend gave us a used spotting scope a few years ago, but it was stolen from our truck).
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