Equipment

Hello Everyone,

Anouncements:

This week is going to be a bit of a long one as I want to discuss a couple of things. I will be adding a heading on each section so if you would like to skip please feel free to do so. If you remember last week I told you I had a very special shoot plan for this weekend that past. Well, it was very special. As you may have seen my first 2 print drops I only made them available for a couple weeks just to make them more special and give them the spotlight. This first 2 drops were quite special as they both show my improvement each month and how far i’ve come learning photography on my own. Each drop has challenge me to learn my camera more and adapt to different situations. When I began bird photography I truly did struggle as lighting and focusing where a constant issue. Also, with my MS I shake quite a bit so sometimes I would go take pictures and come back with a lot of blurry pictures. I learn to be patient knowing that I can’t rush nature I let nature show me what I need to see. I learn how to be quick on my feet and correct any small problem as it came up. I learn how to reduce shakiness in the camera and now I feel better about shooting hand held. It’s with all this experiences I am happy to announce the 3rd and final bird print collection. This will be the final collection for now as I am planning something for later this year. This collection took me weeks to shoot and every shot was carefully thought out and shot hand held. I am very happy with this collection as I now feel comfortable as a photographer and I feel like I am good at what I do now and I hope this shows in this prints. Prints will be released on the 1st of March. For more details behind the scenes stay tune! Also, I have some exciting developments I just received confirmation that my photo was selected for exhibition in Chicago, IL. The exhibition will be at Bridgeport Art Center from July 19-September 6 2024. I am excited not going to lie I have been working really hard and I am glad my photography will get a spotlight.

Canon M50 Mark II:

I want to start off by thanking everyone for the support my social media accounts have been getting a lot of positive feedback. I want to share a bit about my equipment as I really been thinking about this lately after watching one of my favorite photographers video. Simon d’Entremont he is a Canadian professional photographer who primarily does wildlife photography. Here is his youtube———> https://www.youtube.com/@simon_dentremont. As I have said I am completely self taught I have put in the time watching photographers like him to learn the best techniques I can. He is great he really does very informational videos and has shown me how to be more efficient with my camera. I love his work and hope to work with him one day. He is truly one of those photographers that inspire me. One of the things he talk about this week is pro gear vs budget gear. So the question is does equipment really matter? and any professional could tell you is not the gear that matters is the photographer behind them. For the most part yes that’s true but I believe that lenses matter much more and the better the lens the better the photos. I shoot on a canon m50 mark ii a very budget friendly camera. But I, been able to get amazing results with this cheap camera. I do plan to eventually get a better faster camera but for now until I have the money I am comfortable shooting with this camera. This camera isn’t perfect by the way and if you have the money I do recommend getting something better. My camera doesn’t do well with light so if you are planning to shoot wildlife or birds just know if you don’t have enough light it will not perform well. Your auto focus is going to be off and if you use face detention that will suffer as well. Theres, a simple fix just find more light whether that means shooting when the sun is up, using an led light, or simply just using flash. I will admit one thing I do not like flash for wildlife or bird photography you will scare your subjects and it will make it harder for you to get the image you want. I normally shoot early morning or in the afternoon but if you do shoot in the afternoon a word of warning if you shoot to a shadowy area your AF won’t work well. The dynamic range in the camera isn’t great either. But I think what you need to be mostly careful with is shooting on a cloudy day. If you can do it the colors the camera can capture is pretty good. However, if your subject is up in a tree and you point your lens up the camera blows out the sky so fast. The clouds come out way to saturated and I do not like it so if you can shoot at eye level. The camera has some very neat features but most of them aren’t on right of the get go so play around with your camera this camera is very powerful for the money you pay. If you decide to get an m50 let me know how your experience goes.

My health:

Is no lie that I been working a lot lately. This weekend was very busy as I shot all 3 days straight and as I am typing this I just came back from shooting all morning. I wanted to make sure I finish this collection this weekend so I could get some rest. I am starting to feel like I am getting an MS flare up as my fatigue been awful and my hands have been hurting. The tips of my fingers feels like I have a butch of really small cuts. My balance has been really off as well and today I did trip several times this is not a good sign. Usually, I can fight through the pain but lately I been wanting just to rest. So for the next 2 weeks I will just edit and released this project and just focus on my health. I usually get flair ups here and there but because of how much I been putting my body through I think that has contributed greatly to how I am feeling.

Final Bird Print Collection:

I have definitely enjoyed shooting this project. Some of my best shots yet. I will definitely look back at this project and remember it forever. So if you have bought a print I hope one day when I make it professionally I hope it’s worth something. For this final bird print collection I am thinking of doing a digital only released just to make them cheaper and you can put it in a frame or what ever you like. I think this is the way I will go. As of right now I am trying to get a printer to do them on my own and sign them but that hopefully will come later this year. I do also have my art available to purchase in redbubble.com. There you can get mouse pads, phone cases, etc. I have been enjoying my photography as of late so I hope you enjoy this drop. The barred owl will be the main headliner in this drop I have had the luxury of capturing this wonderful owls in many different poses. I name the female Luna and she was in this last print drop but I found a male and he gave me the opportunity of capturing an amazing photo of him. I am so glad nature has allowed me to get close to this magnificent bird of prey. This weekend was surreal being so close to this animals has been great.

Hermit Thrush:

This weekend I ran into this cute chunky bird. I had actually never seen them so I was surprise when I got home and saw this. As always new bird more research. I was surprise to find out how creative this bird is when making it’s nest. This birds primarily make there nest in or around trees and shrubs. But, there nest have been found on cemetery graves, on golf courses and mine shaft. Truly a resourceful bird they adapt to whatever they need in order to raise there families. These birds are known to look for their food by quivering there feet to shake bits of grass off the way so they can get to the insects. A truly interesting behavior only floor forager I seen do this. The oldest hermit thrush on record was at least 10 years, 10 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased in Maryland back in 2009. It was originally banded back in 1999. This bird has been spotted all the way down to Central America. Countries like Honduras and El Salvador. I am from El Salvador so is nice to know some of this birds come from or travel to my country. I feel close to home. This cute birds can be found in forest, scrublands, and woodlands. The hermit thrush is the state bird of Vermont. This lovely birds are omnivores.They feed mainly on insects, small invertebrates, berries, and other fruit. They also sometimes eat small amphibians and reptiles. When building there nest they usually take about 7-10 days they are true architects at work.

The little one:

I got to see a lot of photographers this weekend and I noticed one thing that I found interesting. The majority of photographers really don’t like to capture the little birdies. I saw a couple just skip the opportunity to capture them and go for the big birds. Which don’t get me wrong I believe all of us want those sick shots of the big birds of prey or those duck flapping there wings. But, I look at it different I prefer taking photos of the little birds. Why? well, since I started I was intrigue on how cute this little birds are. But, for me I think the little birds really do allow you to practice your photography at a high level. They pose for you and give you time to think about the composition of the photo and they also allow you to capture them while they are out and about. Not to mention you are most likely to see this little ones every time you go out. Your more guaranteed to see a little one then a big scary bird of prey. I have captured some amazing photos of this little cuties and I have been enjoying it. I believe showing nature as it is while your out there goes a long way to telling a story. The story of how this birds live and survive. The daily struggles and daily work they put in just to survive the day. I have studied this birds so much that I have actually been using them to help me find the amazing birds of prey. How is that possible you may ask? well, as you may know some of this birds of prey love to eat little birds. The little ones have a system where they are all alert at all times. They all work together and the moment a bird of prey is spotted they all quickly go and hide and become very silent. Also, a very interesting behavior I seen from them is if they see a bird of prey the brave ones fly into there back and hit them to get them to go away. Nature is beautiful and this behaviors are wonderful to see. This little ones surely are fearless and beautiful. Nature is wonderful wouldn’t you agree?

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks blog. And I hope your excited to see this new bird prints I am excited. If you are free in July I would love to meet everyone at the exhibit.

Thank you all,