Photographs by Carol Blackard
I was a wildlife photographer in my little girl imagination, but then spent
my adult life as a physician. Upon semi-retirement, I took up photography of
nature subjects, especially of birds because they give me such pleasure and
spiritual fulfillment.
I initially tried digiscoping since I already owned a birding scope for my
birding activities, but found that technique had its limitations. Currently
I use a Sony A-100 DSLR with a Tamron 200-500 telephoto lens . I like to use
a low ISO, a fast shutter speed and 6.3 aperture whenever possible.
Sometimes I will use fill flash in order to pick up more detail in low
light. I hand hold my camera almost exclusively because I enjoy the
flexibility of being able to grab any shot that presents itself without
having to remove the camera from a tripod. I have recently begun to shoot in
RAW format so that the very occasional outstanding photo can be enlarged. I
have found this format gives me a few more Photoshop lighting adjustment
options as an added bonus. Additionally, it gives me a format that can be
reopened and re-edited without loss of quality.
Visit Carol's web site to enjoy more of her extensive collection of bird photographs.