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African Bird Pictures - Pg1


Our birds gallery has been included to provide some variety to all the African mammal photos.

It's taken time, but friends have gradually convinced me that watching - and photographing - birds can be as enjoyable as viewing larger wildlife when visiting nature reserves.

However, photographing birds from a vehicle is not easy. Ideally you need a powerful 600mm super-telephoto lens to bring the subject close enough to ensure you get a worthwhile image and not just a tiny speck in the center of the frame.

double-collared sunbird in flight
Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Click on picture to enlarge.
African fish eagel, close-up spotted eagle owl close-up view Spurwinged goose in flight
lilac-breasted roller Three-banded Plover Ground hormbill
Woodland Kingfisher Bateleur (immature) Carmine bee-eater
Brown-hooded kingfisher Woodland Kingfisher African Spoonbill
Wildlife photography fine art prints
Hooded vulture redbilled hornbills Lanner Falcon
Saddlebilled Stork Saddlebilled Stork Martial Eagle
Whitefronted bee-eater Lilac Breasted Roller Masked Weaver
greater flamingo Greate white egret Guinea fowl close-up

Hugely Expensive Lenses
Powerful telephoto lenses are not only hugely expensive, but they are not designed to be hand-held - ideally they should be supported by a heavy tripod to reduce camera shake.

To eliminate any camera shake even further, the camera's shutter should be fired using a remote or cable release.

That's not easy when you're in the passenger seat of a vehicle with a bunch of other people.

So my bird photography has been limited, not only by lack of suitable equipment, but also by lack of enthusiasm as a result.

Digital Photography
However, digital photography is changing the landscape.

Not only are there affordable cameras available with powerful 24x or more zoom lenses, but the "consumer" SLR digitals (like the Canon EOS 600D and Nikon D90) have a built-in multiplication or crop factor of 50% to 60%.

So using a 400mm F5.6 lens (or a 300mm lens with a 1.4x converter) is like shooting with a 600mm. Add image stabilization and it becomes much more feasible to photograph birds from your vehicle while visiting game and nature reserves.

Thumbnail Captions
Row 1:
1.Lilacbreasted Roller, Kruger National Park, South Africa
2.Threebanded Plover, Kruger National Park, South Africa
3.Southern Ground Hornbill, Kruger National Park, S Africa

Row 2:
1.Woodland Kingfisher, Kruger National Park, South Africa
2.Bateleur (immature), Kruger National Park, South Africa
3.Carmine Bee-eater, Tuli Block, Botswana

Row 3:
1.Brownhooded Kingfisher, Kruger National Park, S Africa
2.Woodland Kingfisher, Tuli Block, Botswana
3.African Spoonbill, Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa

Row 4:
1.Saddlebilled Stork (male), Kruger National Park, S Africa
2.Saddlebilled Stork (female), Kruger National Park, S Africa
3.Martial Eagle, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Row 5:
1.Whitefronted Bee-eater, Kruger National Park, S Africa
2.Lilacbreasted Roller, Kruger National Park, S Africa
3.Masked Weaver building nest, Kruger National Park, S Africa

Row 6:
1.Greater Flamingo, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana
2.Great White Egret, Chobe River, Botswana
3.Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Kruger National Park, S Africa

Return to Wildlife Galleries

See also:
Bird Photos Pg 2
Bird Photos Bonus Page

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Contact Details: Scotch Macaskill, Dirt Road Traders, Currys Post Road, Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Tel: +27 (0)82 578 2329. Privacy: Your privacy is guaranteed. See our Privacy Policy for more. This site accepts advertising and other forms of compensation - see Disclosure and Advertising for details. Site updated: December 2013. Copyright © 2002 - 2013 Scotch Macaskill

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