Sparrow's Leap

A lucky photograph: timing is everything

I haven’t taken many bird photographs for several months now. I sold my primary bird lens (the 200-600mm Sony) to fund the purchase of another piece of equipment.

I was able to pick up a 300mm f/2.8 Canon FD lens. Unlike the Sony, it’s fully manual. Let’s say that photography birds with a manual lens is significantly more demanding that when using a fully automatic lens.

However, I have been practicing. I figured that, once upon a time (the 1970s), people were taking bird photographs with lenses like this, and they must have been able to develop the skills to focus, frame, and shoot without all the fancy automatic stuff we enjoy today.

So after a few months of intermittent practice, I had the routine down enough that when I a sunny day arrived, I went out and managed to get a really fantastic shot. I have to confess: this was sheer luck. In the time it took me to focus and frame, the bird decided to launch into flight. Of the three shots I got, this one has the best focus and action combined.

Here are some of the other good shots I got from that session. Now that I’m able to work quickly with this lens, I am looking forward to using it more often.

Bird photos with Canon FD 300mm f/2.8 lens