Birding Online July 2021
MICHAEL L. P. RETTER
Birding Specials Editor
I received the Photography issue of Birding yesterday and I finished reading it this morning. I really appreciated the diversity of perspectives and the content, and I like that it was relevant for new and experienced photographers. Learning from the contributors has inspired me to try some new techniques. I particularly enjoyed Walter Kitundu’s article and I can relate to his description of the value of seeing the world from the bird’s perspective and how that can shift your awareness and perception of nature. Reading this magazine has motivated me to write essays that match the quality of my photographs.
—Bill Davison. Normal, Illinois.
As ABA member Bill Davison notes above, varying perspectives are valuable. Different people have different aesthetics and different goals when photographing birds. That’s the overarching theme in this year’s Birder’s Guide to Photography special issue of Birding. It showcases some of the diverse facets of bird photography, the people who engage in them, and the stunning images they acquire. Just as there is no one way to bird, there is no one way to photograph birds.
That theme comes through loud and clear in Walter Kitundu’s article, wherein he recounts months spent photographing a single bird as an attempt to see things from the bird’s point of view. Bryony Angell interviews four women whose refreshingly different photos are mostly obtained in urban spaces.
Lawrence McFarrin and Glenn Bartley both offer tips for how to set up stationary photography rigs; Glenn’s method is somewhat traditional while Lawrence’s is…not so much. Legendary birds-in-flight photographer Tom Johnson shares some of his favorite photos from over the years, and he tells us how he obtained them. Weston Barker shares his experimentation with sharpness in photographs. And the team from eBird tells us what you should and shouldn’t do when uploading photos to the site.
Finally, we also have online-only content in the form book reviews by Clay Sutton and Frank Izaguirre. They looked at Great Gray Owl and Snowy Owl by Paul Bannick, What Birds Eat by Kim Long, Birds of the West by Molly Hashimoto, and two books by the National Audubon Society: Birds of North America and Trees of North America.
For too long, birding and bird photography have been broadly uniform in terms of participants and products. The ABA urgently wants and needs to hear more and varied perspectives, and we strive to make heard the voices of historically marginalized and under-represented groups in birding. By you sharing your knowledge, we can all become more informed and understanding birders.
NEW SOFTWARE!
We are using a new, and much improved PDF viewer with this issue of Birding. Using the menu at the top-right of the screen, you can customize the view to suit your pleasure. Our favorite view is:
->Book Flip
->Odd Spreads
…and at the top-center, choose “Page Fit”. Enjoy!
I received the Photography issue of Birding yesterday and I finished reading it this morning. I really appreciated the diversity of perspectives and the content, and I like that it was relevant for new and experienced photographers. Learning from the contributors has inspired me to try some new techniques. I particularly enjoyed Walter Kitundu’s article and I can relate to his description of the value of seeing the world from the bird’s perspective and how that can shift your awareness and perception of nature. Reading this magazine has motivated me to write essays that match the quality of my photographs.
—Bill Davison. Normal, Illinois.
As ABA member Bill Davison notes above, varying perspectives are valuable. Different people have different aesthetics and different goals when photographing birds. That’s the overarching theme in this year’s Birder’s Guide to Photography special issue of Birding. It showcases some of the diverse facets of bird photography, the people who engage in them, and the stunning images they acquire. Just as there is no one way to bird, there is no one way to photograph birds.
That theme comes through loud and clear in Walter Kitundu’s article, wherein he recounts months spent photographing a single bird as an attempt to see things from the bird’s point of view. Bryony Angell interviews four women whose refreshingly different photos are mostly obtained in urban spaces.
Lawrence McFarrin and Glenn Bartley both offer tips for how to set up stationary photography rigs; Glenn’s method is somewhat traditional while Lawrence’s is…not so much. Legendary birds-in-flight photographer Tom Johnson shares some of his favorite photos from over the years, and he tells us how he obtained them. Weston Barker shares his experimentation with sharpness in photographs. And the team from eBird tells us what you should and shouldn’t do when uploading photos to the site.
Finally, we also have online-only content in the form book reviews by Clay Sutton and Frank Izaguirre. They looked at Great Gray Owl and Snowy Owl by Paul Bannick, What Birds Eat by Kim Long, Birds of the West by Molly Hashimoto, and two books by the National Audubon Society: Birds of North America and Trees of North America.
For too long, birding and bird photography have been broadly uniform in terms of participants and products. The ABA urgently wants and needs to hear more and varied perspectives, and we strive to make heard the voices of historically marginalized and under-represented groups in birding. By you sharing your knowledge, we can all become more informed and understanding birders.
