Recently, I have started paying more attention to birds when I walk outside.
The reason is my daughter. She has always loved nature, and recently she has become especially interested in birds. These days she spends a lot of time reading books and field guides about them.
Her favorite bird is the Shima-enaga. I do not remember exactly when it started, but little by little Shima-enaga goods began appearing in our house.
Now it has become a small family dream.
We often say, “Someday we should go to Hokkaido and try to see a Shima-enaga.”
I hope we can really make that trip next winter.
There are many beautiful photos of Shima-enaga on Instagram and in books. Seeing those photos made me think that if we ever meet one in Hokkaido, I would like to try photographing it.
But I also realized that taking a picture with a smartphone might not feel quite enough.
I once saw a TV program about a café where Shima-enaga sometimes visit. The people there were all holding cameras with long telephoto lenses. Many of the bird photos we see in books are taken with equipment like that.
That made me think that if we finally meet this bird we love, I would like to photograph it properly.
So I took out an old camera that had been sitting in the house and decided to start practicing bird photography.
While researching, I learned that serious bird photography often requires expensive cameras and lenses. For now, I decided to keep things simple and see if this hobby really sticks.
I bought a 300mm telephoto lens and attached it to my old camera.
The lens I am currently using is:
OM SYSTEM
M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II
Of course, my photos are still far from perfect. But I have started enjoying simple birdwatching and photography in a nearby park.
The first bird I photographed was a spot-billed duck on a pond in the evening.
In this blog, I would like to slowly record these small discoveries and the things I learn while trying to photograph birds.
Thank you for visiting.