Great places to practice digiscoping 1 - local duck pond

What a grand title! I think I am getting better at this whole title thing. (but correct me if I am wrong ;-)

Taking a photo using a good digiscoping setup is incredibly simple.
Taking a half decent photo with a digiscoping setup is not so easy.
Taking great photos through a digiscoping setup is flippin' hard.

Making the progression from level one to two to three takes lots of time, effort and patience; although a cup full of luck also helps. But then again, Gary Player always said that the more he practiced the luckier he got.

But how can you possibly practice when all the little birds keep flying away?

The trick is to start with larger birds and birds that tend to move in regular ways. Try going down to a local town park and taking photos of the ducks and geese. You will find that the larger birds make good photographic subjects, they tend to move about in a less frantic manner (unless, they are chasing each other about), and are not necessarily as shy as wild birds.

1. choose a large subject that is sitting still

Choose a subject that is still. This sitting Mandarin Duck (at Schloß Ambras, just outside Innsbruck) made a great subject - he was dead still for ages, which meant that I could use a 4sec timer on my camera. This meant that there was little or no camera shake to disturb the image, even though I was forced to use a fairly slow shutter speed (1/50sec) because it was kinda dark in the tree.

2. Try to follow a swimming duck, adjusting the focus as the duck moves.

When you are feeling a little more confident, find a swimming duck and try to track the duck through the water. You will probably find that the ducks move more slowly and calmly when they are just left to themselves. Making a noice to attract their attention, or throwing food, is likely to make them move faster and make your job of digiscoping them so much harder. As you are following the ducks, you will get used to focusing quickly and having your camera ready to take the shot. Try to use as little zoom as possible (particularly from your camera) as this will tend to reduce the amount of light you are able to use (slower photo=more camera shake/blur) and is likely to soften the images (unless you have a great quality lens). Don't be afraid to take lots of photos - you can always throw the poor photos away.

When you are really getting confident, you can start to look up in to the trees around the pond. Try to find a subject that is sitting relatively still and not too high up - eye-level would be great. This Blue Tit came and sat on a bush right in front of me while I was playing with the ducks:

3. find a bird in a bush/tree somewhere near you
(btw, that is what happens to a photo when you sharpen it too much in photoshop ;-)

I have another great spot to practice digiscoping techniques and get ready for spring birding, but I will leave that to my next post.

I would love to hear your comments, tips and ideas!

Happy birding
Dale Forbes