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Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
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Nov 7, 2013
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A wonderful, majestic and endangered bird.
Every time I see pictures of it, an article of the German "GEO" journal comes to my mind, showing an individual after a rain shower, no longer that majestic.
I found the pic here at the GEO website. The other pictures there are less humiliating ;)
Thank you for sharing. I've heard of the back story of that GEO photographer back in 2013-2014. Other than photographing a captive Philippine Eagle he also staked out a nest of one for a few weeks.

If I wasn't surrounded by bird watcher purists who demonize taking photos of captive animals I may have made a photo that would be used on the ₱1,000 bank note. That bird photo below was taken by a fellow bird photographer who thankfully had little to no contact with crazy bird watchers.

That was the primary reason why I refused to join any bird watching club as they act as if they own the damn bird.

That to me is of a higher honor than discovering some obscure bird, rediscovering a lost bird, publishing my own book or be featured on any billboard. Even getting featured on a magazine or newspaper isn't the gold standard.

NhC2K6k.jpg
 
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Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
CR Pro
Nov 7, 2013
5,664
8,491
Germany
Thank you for sharing. I've heard of the back story of that GEO photographer back in 2013-2014. Other than photographing a captive Philippine Eagle he also staked out a nest of one for a few weeks.

If I wasn't surrounded by bird watcher purists who demonize taking photos of captive animals I may have made a photo that would be used on the ₱1,000 bank note. That bird photo below was taken by a fellow bird photographer who thankfully had little to no contact with crazy bird watchers.

That was the primary reason why I refused to join any bird watching club as they act as if they own the damn bird.

That to me is of a higher honor than discovering some obscure bird, rediscovering a lost bird, publishing my own book or be featured on any billboard. Even getting featured on a magazine or newspaper isn't the gold standard.
Thanks for sharing that story and your thoughts. I agree with a lot of it.
I tend to always ask myself, how much disturbing I am to the animal or the environment.
And I sometimes find myself, that I forgot to do so. But I always try.
 
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Thanks for sharing that story and your thoughts. I agree with a lot of it.
I tend to always ask myself, how much disturbing I am to the animal or the environment.
And I sometimes find myself, that I forgot to do so. But I always try.
I get that Western bird watchers have onerous rules as I saw how many millions are registered birders.

The thing is in poor nations the more immediate threat isn't unethical bird watchers but poachers, hunters, illegal loggers and habitat destroyers harming wildlife at scale.

This is result of a high human fertility rate and I have yet to hear from any Filipino bird watcher speak up about lowering the fertility rate. They gloss it over out of fear of offending the elderly & conservative bird watchers that number in their ranks. Easier to target bird photographers whom they grab photos from and not compensate them properly.

Birders here do not exceed 3,000 in a country with a population inching towards 113 million.

So all the birding ethics flung about as if it were mass murder is just plainly insane.


Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

Take this photo of this nesting Common Emerald Dove. It was located long a walkway of a small public park and 6 meters from me. The bird watcher kept worrying harm will come to it because he reported it to his birding club. In my mind if that's such a concern then just shut up about it. But you know, birding ethics took overrode common sense and he reported it.

Few hours after the report... birdie went bye bye.

Birding ethics, in a nutshell. :ROFLMAO:
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
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A quick snap, here's a chiffchaff (most likely). I pretty much stopped bird photography by 2020; this year I traded in my big lens and DSLR so hopefully I can get back to doing a bit of it with lighter gear. Eye focus is definitely a boon! R6, RF 800 f/11, 1.6x crop mode. I have no computer any more so all edits are done on the camera/my phone; no doubt I could get more out of the files with proper software, but it's adequate for my purposes now.
 

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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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A quick snap, here's a chiffchaff (most likely). I pretty much stopped bird photography by 2020; this year I traded in my big lens and DSLR so hopefully I can get back to doing a bit of it with lighter gear. Eye focus is definitely a boon! R6, RF 800 f/11, 1.6x crop mode. I have no computer any more so all edits are done on the camera/my phone; no doubt I could get more out of the files with proper software, but it's adequate for my purposes now.
Nice shot. The 800/11 goes very well with the R6 as does the RF 100-400.
 
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Wandering Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arcuata) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

If I were to redo this shot

- ISO 2,500
- f/6.3
- 1/125

I'd also lower down the tripod some more so the background isn't the water but the other side of the pond

Thank you

AlanF
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Cog
ERHP
EricN
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Maximilian
OskarB
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