I currently live in Colorado Springs

I am David from Colorado Springs, CO. I have been a birder since I was 9 years old – very many years ago.

I had always wanted to do photography but the idea of film & darkroom processing did not excite me too much. Even having someone else develop the film was a bit of a bother, especially paying for and not knowing how the images would turnout.

In the mid-1990s, I got my first computer – at the time that was a challenge – I’m fairly good at it now-a-days. In the late 1990s a friend showed me his new Sony Mavica camera and I thought I want to get a digital camera to go along with my computer skills.

In 2001 I got a Sony Mavica FD 95. I took lousy photos for bird images – I never learned what all the buttons were used for. In 2003 another birder showed me her Canon EOS 10D – I decided to get that Canon model. Several months later, when I got it – I always shot in “Auto” mode. My shots of birds & things were a lot better than the Sony Mavica. Several years later I also acquired the Canon 40D & 50D still in “Auto” mode. I once even proposed a new year’s resolution thinking that I needed to learn this Manual mode stuff. That was about 10 years ago but didn’t act upon it. For many years I was hoping and waiting for the Canon EOS 90D to be on the market. Finally I bought one in the fall of 2019, very shortly after it became available – Again I thought that I needed to do the Manual Mode stuff.

The Images that other bird photographers shot were stunning, very sharp & detailed. In 2020 I decided to take the leap into Manual mode. First time in 2020 I turned the mode dial to manual – never turned it back to auto since then. First time I tried it my images were seriously underexposed. Second time several days late I took images that were seriously overexposed.

The first thing I dwelled on was the “Exposure Triangle” & some of its associated settings. What really helped was viewing camera videos & pdf files on the net. I now have the basic tools involved in that aspect. Next I tackled “Back Button Focus” – I now have a rudimentary skill at that. The biggest problem before that was that when I tried to focus lock on the bird - that was either moving or had many surrounding artifacts – branches twig whatever. I just couldn’t lock on to the bird image – the focus kept shifting. “Back Button focus” is now working in that I usually can maintain a lock on the target image. Many of the images are now turning out to be fairly sharp.

This whole process of learning this stuff has been review the videos, trial & error practice over & over again. My overriding goal has been to take tack sharp photos I am finally getting somewhere with it. I am adding little pieces of knowledge as I go through this process of learning this Manual stuff.

I have also acquired a macro lens for taking close-up shots of plants, flowers & insects. I also have a wide angle lens for scenery & panoramas, etc.

I currently live in Colorado Springs

I am David from Colorado Springs, CO. I have been a birder since I was 9 years old – very many years ago.

I had always wanted to do photography but the idea of film & darkroom processing did not excite me too much. Even having someone else develop the film was a bit of a bother, especially paying for and not knowing how the images would turnout.

In the mid-1990s, I got my first computer – at the time that was a challenge – I’m fairly good at it now-a-days. In the late 1990s a friend showed me his new Sony Mavica camera and I thought I want to get a digital camera to go along with my computer skills.

In 2001 I got a Sony Mavica FD 95. I took lousy photos for bird images – I never learned what all the buttons were used for. In 2003 another birder showed me her Canon EOS 10D – I decided to get that Canon model. Several months later, when I got it – I always shot in “Auto” mode. My shots of birds & things were a lot better than the Sony Mavica. Several years later I also acquired the Canon 40D & 50D still in “Auto” mode. I once even proposed a new year’s resolution thinking that I needed to learn this Manual mode stuff. That was about 10 years ago but didn’t act upon it. For many years I was hoping and waiting for the Canon EOS 90D to be on the market. Finally I bought one in the fall of 2019, very shortly after it became available – Again I thought that I needed to do the Manual Mode stuff.

The Images that other bird photographers shot were stunning, very sharp & detailed. In 2020 I decided to take the leap into Manual mode. First time in 2020 I turned the mode dial to manual – never turned it back to auto since then. First time I tried it my images were seriously underexposed. Second time several days late I took images that were seriously overexposed.

The first thing I dwelled on was the “Exposure Triangle” & some of its associated settings. What really helped was viewing camera videos & pdf files on the net. I now have the basic tools involved in that aspect. Next I tackled “Back Button Focus” – I now have a rudimentary skill at that. The biggest problem before that was that when I tried to focus lock on the bird - that was either moving or had many surrounding artifacts – branches twig whatever. I just couldn’t lock on to the bird image – the focus kept shifting. “Back Button focus” is now working in that I usually can maintain a lock on the target image. Many of the images are now turning out to be fairly sharp.

This whole process of learning this stuff has been review the videos, trial & error practice over & over again. My overriding goal has been to take tack sharp photos I am finally getting somewhere with it. I am adding little pieces of knowledge as I go through this process of learning this Manual stuff.

I have also acquired a macro lens for taking close-up shots of plants, flowers & insects. I also have a wide angle lens for scenery & panoramas, etc.