I have not included technical data with each photo because I am not a photography specialist, although I understand most of the principles of the craft.  I have added images I like and in most cases they will be sharp and well exposed with some thought given to focal point and background, but the main selection criterion is just that I like them!

 

I personally don't go along with those specialist bird photographers who insist that you can see every part of the bird, at eye level with a consistent out of focus background in their preferred colour.

I like most the photos that show bird behaviour as they conduct their always risky lives while offering us glimpses of their astonishingly detailed beauty.  

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I think that what makes a good landscape photograph is mostly subjective, but I would agree with the classic view that it's all about the light. Photographing the static environment delivers best when the image makes us feel good, or experience awe and wonder.

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Many of my common bird photos are taken from a pop up hide and at a location that I have private access to.  You can read more about that here and see more photos of the location, which I will update over the seasons.

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For those that are interested I can tell you that the camera I use in my hide is an OM Systems OM1 and for birds I am usually using the 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 zoom lens.  I also use the Olympus 60mm Macro lens, which is excellent.

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Images are captured in RAW and only lightly manually processed in 'post', if at all, as I learned my photography when film and processing were very expensive and try to get the final shot I want in the camera!  I did run my own darkroom for some years. 

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I use the very good OM Workspace software as opposed to Lightroom or similar, because it works with in camera setting that will have been added to the RAW file to minimise the amount of extra work needed for me to get my preferred colour profile and so on.  If I need to rescue a photo taken in very difficult lighting, I will resort to Topaz, but this will result in an overall softer looking picture, even though the AI is getting better all the time.

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For 'walkabout' and more casual photos I use the very convenient Nikon Coolpix P950.  It can get me bird shots that would be impossible with any other camera for its portability (its 35mm equivalent maximum zoom is an incredible 2000mm!), but of course the quality is not so good, especially at higher ISO settings.  I have taken many photos that allowed me to confirm bird identification with the P950 but some are just too poor quality for publication, even though they are interesting subjects. Nonetheless, there are quite a few shots from the Nikon on the site - you may notice slightly less detail or more 'noise' in them.

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In early 2025, I bought a Sony RX10 MkIV as an upgrade to the P950, although it has a significantly shorter zoom (effectively up to 600mm in full frame terms).  The sensor is larger and the auto focus, upgraded for the Mk IV, is pretty good.  First impressions suggest that the sensor will produce vety good results with ISO settings up to 400 and reasonable light.  The Sony matched RAW processing siftware is not up to OM Systems but more than adequate for tweaking basically decent shots. 

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I do also use a couple of other Olympus and Panasonic lenses and for travel I currently use the OM Systems TG-7, which is pretty impressive when used in combination with OM Systems own image processing software.

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If anyone wants more technical data for a particular shot or any more information about my technique, I will be happy to supply it on receiving a request by email to madblotter@gmail.com

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