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Does Equipment Matter?

Yes, of course it does……

That’s that then. Well, no, not really. Let’s first talk about Motorsport, if you watch F1 and get excited about the thrill of the drivers balancing the physics of a finely tuned piece of engineering, does that mean that you can’t enjoy a Sunday drive through the countryside in a Ford Fiesta? Of course you can. For me it’s the same with photography.

I’m not going to pretend that shooting with Nikon’s fantastic D850 DSLR paired with a Nikon 500mm f/4 doesn’t make life much easier for me as a photographer, of course it does, but that doesn’t mean that you need this level of equipment to capture stunning photos. Anyone who has attended one of my Digital Photography Fundamentals Workshop will remember that I talk a lot about that although professional equipment offers superior quality, it doesn’t mean that you cannot shoot stunning photographs with level-entry equipment, far from it. I quite often get told “It’s easy for you with your camera”, yes, it’s easier, but doesn’t mean that photography is impossible without expensive equipment.

This morning, it got me thinking about this so I grabbed a Nikon D3100 that I use as a loan camera on my workshops and attached my Nikon 80-400mm lens to it. Yes, ok, some of you are going to spot that this is a professional grade lens, I don’t own a “long” telephoto lens that isn’t. However, it’ll still be possible to get great photos with a much cheaper lens attached.

The Nikon D3100 is a level-entry camera with just 14.2 megapixels and was released back in 2010. Ten years in the world of photography is a long-time!

It didn’t take long until a pair of juvenile Eurasian Nuthatches we have in the garden showed up on an old dead Oak Tree. So here you go, I think you’ll agree that these are quite nice shots of them.

If you work with good light, shoot at the correct angles and of course dial in the correct camera settings then great photography is available.

Currently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, my “Open” Digital Photography Fundamentals Workshops are suspended, however, private sessions are available. These workshops are a great way to learn to take control of your camera.

If you feel like really getting your teeth into photography, a great way to go from beginner to great photographer is to book some Personal 3 Hour Photography Workshop Sessions. These sessions can take you right from the start through to post-processing in Adobe Lightroom at a pace that suits you and as many or little sessions as you wish, these can be done in the comfort of your own home!


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Baby Nuthatch!

This morning I was in the garden shooting backlit Honey Bees (another blog to follow later) and I heard a tapping noise in one of our Oak Trees. I thought it would be the usual Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers which are common in our area, however, when I looked I noticed 2 juvenile Eurasian Nuthatches. Here is a photo of one who briefly posed on top of the tree for me.

(Click to open in Lightbox)


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Nuthatch in the Golden Hour

This morning the light mist was creating a nice golden glow just after sunrise.

There was a lot of activity with Sparrows and Blackbirds building nests. I also saw a Mistle Thrush in a neighbouring field so I’ll be keeping an eye out for them again (Story from last year).

A pair of Nuthatches were going up and down one of our Oak Trees, always amazes me how they can descend head-first down a tree.

Here’s a photo I managed to get of one of them.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}
Nuthatch - D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/8, ISO220, 1/320sec - {Flickr Link}

More Bird Photos From The Garden

The sun came back out and so did the camera! There was a bit of haze high in the sky which was creating a really nice diffused light so I went back out and sat in the pop-up hide for an hour.

Apart from the usual House Sparrows and Blue Tit, a Nuthatch turned up along with another Starling.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}
Male House Sparrow
Male House Sparrow – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO640, 1/500sec – {Flickr Link}
Nuthatch
Nuthatch – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO450, 1/500sec – {Flickr Link}
Blue Tit
Blue Tit – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO125, 1/500sec – {Flickr Link}
Starling
Starling – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO180, 1/500sec – {Flickr Link}
House Sparrow
House Sparrow – D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/5.6, ISO250, 1/500sec – {Flickr Link}
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