Most people who enjoy taking images of birds will attest to the fact that it can be especially challenging to photograph hummingbirds. These little 'pocket rockets' dart around constantly and very seldom stay in one place long enough for us to find them in our viewfinders, let alone actually get...
Post Archive By Thomas Stirr - Page 9
Photographing Cormorants in Flight with Nikon 1
As part of the field work for my review of the Nikon 1 V3 I took some images of birds in flight under rather harsh winter conditions earlier this year. While I did have some success with the Nikon 1 CX 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens I wasn't satisfied that I...
Tips on Photographing Hand-Held with Telephoto Lenses
With the introduction of lenses like the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC, more people than ever before are using long telephoto zoom lenses. Sometimes they are disappointed with their initial results when using these lenses hand-held, especially at slower shutter speeds. This short article provides some tips that can help improve hand-holding...
Crocodilia and more at Alligator Adventure
There is something about crocodiles and their relatives that fascinates many people. Perhaps it's the 85 million year history of this family of creatures. Or maybe when we look into their eyes, it is the realization that they may be looking back at us as a potential meal that gets...
A Ribitting Morning
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario (Canada) recently hosted a display of frogs from around the world. Frogs: A Chorus of Colours was an interesting, educational exhibit as well as an opportunity to capture some images. These kinds of events always present challenges for photographers. The display cases are...
Is There Really Anything ‘Wrong’ with Digital Camera Sales Volumes?
There have been some interesting debates lately about what's 'wrong' with the digital camera market as people try to understand the rather dramatic decline in unit sales that has been happening over the past 4 or 5 years, with volumes down by half from their peak. I let my old,...
Brookgreen Gardens: A Photo Essay
My wife and I have been to the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) area many times over the past 20 years but it wasn’t until 2015 that we finally visited Brookgreen Gardens. To say that we were shocked with what we discovered there would be an understatement. We simply had no...
Using Fog to Create Surreal River Images
Landscape photographers often use fog to help them create wonderful, moody images. You've likely seen one of those arresting photographs of a single tree shrouded by fog standing silently in a field. We can use fog in our river and lake images to good effect as well. Under the right...
Photographing Brown Pelicans with Tamron 150-600mm VC
During a recent trip to the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina I took the opportunity to try something new, and captured a number of images of brown pelicans. Although I’ve seen these birds a number of times in the past I never tried photographing them before, and as with...
Arizona and Utah: Big Memories with a Tiny Sensor
Sometimes we can get so caught up in the technical aspects of our gear that we forget that the most important things are the images we capture regardless of the gear we are using. Those images help to enshrine memories. They could be of family and friends, pets, events, or...