Stone Chats galore

I have just gotten back from an awesome 6 days in Extremadura (western Spain), a bird-lovers paradise. It was wonderful to be in the sun again (it was snowing at home and in Extremadura we were sitting in shorts, baking in the sun).

One of the things we did a few times while we were in Extremadura is to drive out on the road through the steppes from Belen (near Trujillo). In the afternoon, the sun is directly behind you and the light on two of the afternoons was absolutely spectacular. Jörg and I had a lot of fun digiscoping all the little passerines that lines the road and buzzed around in the steppes.

Here are some of the stonchats I digiscoped there:

playing with the blue sky as a background

the wonderfully golden browns of the steppes also made for some interesting, rich backgrounds

Besides the stonechats, we also saw tons of larks: Thekla Lark, Crested Lark, Skylark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark and a few Wood Larks (I'll post some pics when I have time).

Oh, and how could one forget the Great Bustards and Little Bustards.

Ghastly photos (huge distances), but if you use your imagination, you can figure it out ;-)

All photos digiscoped with a Swarovski STM80HD scope, TLS800 adapter and Canon 7D

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes

What Shutter Speed for Digiscoping?

Whilst in Thailand, we stayed on the edge of Khao Sok National Park (an absolute gem) where we had a banana flower visited by a number of different spiderhunter species. I had been meaning to make a video on shutter speed and digiscoping for a while, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity.

"All of my digiscoping photos are out of focus" is pretty much the most common thing that digiscopers say to me. This normally has very little to do with focus, and everything to do with camera shake. Camera shake is a killer, and shutter speed its blade.

Now in normal daylight conditions, pretty much anyone can take a half decent (sharp) photo with a digital camera. Just keep it on that little green square (full automatic mode), and away you go. As easy as that.

Digiscoping is something completely different. Focal lengths in digiscoping typically range from long (say 800mm) to the ludicrous (5000+ mm) and this brings with it a whole pile of issues. Professional telephoto photographers deal with these issues all the time and digiscoping is no different. It requires the digiscoper to commit time and energy to start to think more like a serious photographer. To understand what shutter speed, aperture, ISO and all those other fantastic things are all about.

So, what shutter speed do I need to get a good, sharp digiscoping photo?

This is, unfortunately, not a simple question to answer and depends on many factors including:

- type of camera (DSLR with a flapping mirror, or little compact camera?),
- how steady your setup and hand are (just had a Red Bull and espresso?)
- how much your subject is moving (tortoise or hare?), and
- luck (had to add that ;-)

DSLRs have a flapping mirror = need more shutter speed

As the name suggests, DSLRs have a mirror that flaps about all over the place. If you want to take a sharp photo with a flappy DSLR and a focal length of 1000mm, then you will need a shutter speed of a good 1/1000s. Which, unless it is a bright day, will mean that you will have to have a high ISO.

Here is a video on ISO in digiscoping:

DSLR on LiveView cuts out mirror flap.

A trick to use with modern DSLRs is that you can switch to LiveView and take a photo there without the mirror flapping, i.e. the only extra movement comes from the aperture blinking while taking the photo. At the moment, it only seems to be the Canon cameras that do this, which is one of the many reasons why I much prefer Canon DSLRs to the Nikons I have used recently (for digiscoping, that is. For general photography and telephoto photography, I find the Nikons just as nice).

Compact cameras shake less.

The much smaller blinking eye in compact cameras seems to produce much less vibration when taking a photo with a DSLR even on LiveView. This is why you can push the shutter speed even slower with a little compact and still have a chance of getting a half-way sharp photo.

More stability = need less shutter speed.

By making sure that there is as little shake in the entire system as possible, you effectively reduce the minimum shutter speed you need in order to get a sharp photo. This includes using things like a cable release, a countdown timer, a good tripod or bean bag, and avoiding wind:

A good dose of luck never hurt anyone.

Or, as Gary Player used to say, "the more I practice, the luckier I get". Practice, practice, practice. And take lots of photos, some will be keepers!

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes

Flying Purple Heron digiscoped

On the Saturday of the Pannonian Bird Experience 2010, I was taking out a "crash course in digiscoping", and a Purple Heron gave a fly-by so I dashed over to my digiscoping setup and fired off a few shots:

Swarovski STM80 HD, TLS800, Canon 7D

I've had to compress them to not blow out my internet connection, but I am quite happy with them. They could have done with a lower ISO, but there really was not time to think about settings, so I will forgive myself ;-)

All flying bird photos digiscoped with a Swarovski Optik STM80 HD spotting scope, TLS800 telescope photography adapter and a Canon 7D. I am quickly becoming a fan of this camera: it has a little more reach than my favorite digiscoping camera, the Canon 5D mark II (due to its crop factor and APS-C sensor), has many of the controls of the 5DII, but does not seem to have quite the same high ISO noise control as the 5DII.

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes

Using the Swarovski UCA digiscoping adapter: Universal Camera Adapter

Last year we made a couple of little video to show digiscopers how to set up and use the new Swarovski UCA digiscoping adapter.

The Swarovski UCA digiscoping adapter was developed with two core principals:

• universality
  
• stability

Canon EOS 350D set up for digiscoping on the new UCA adaptor

Practically any camera suitable for digiscoping can be mounted on the Swarovski UCA using the camera's tripod thread. This is particularly important because camera technology is changing so quickly that it makes sense that people will want to have the option of changing their cameras every few years, without having to change their entire digiscoping setup. Many people also start digiscoping with the small compact point & shoot camera they have at home already, but would like to have the option of changing camera in the future, or possibly even purchasing a DSLR for digiscoping. This is when the Swarovski UCA comes in really handy.

To set up the Swarovski UCA for a compact camera:

• align the supporting platform such that there is just a small area (suitable for a compact camera). If you have a DSLR, you would rotate this platform around to give a much larger support area (see video)
• attach the camera on to the removable base plate. note: if your compact camera has a tripod thread that is not directly under the objective lens, then you will want to move the screw to the off-center position on the removable base plate
• turn the camera on and extend the zoom lens out (normally in wide-angle position)
• slowly slide the camera on to the mounted UCA making sure the camera lens does not bash up against the telescope's ocular lens
• adjust the height by loosening the screw on the right and watching the camera's display screen
• now loosen the large black screw underneath the platform to adjust the horizontal and distance alignment. Ideally, you want to position the camera so that there is either no vignetting (the black ring around the image), or until the vignetting ring is a sharp, centered circle
• If you still have a little bit of vignetting, then use a little bit of camera zoom to remove the vignetting completely. As a general rule of thumb, always use as little camera zoom as possible (and then only optical zoom, not digital). Using your telescope's zoom on the lowest magnification will give you the brightest image (biggest aperture), making it easier to take sharp photos. If you need to zoom in more, then rather use the spotting scope's zoom than the camera zoom (the quality of the former is likely to be much higher than the latter)
• now that your camera is set up physically, you can use your normal camera settings to go digiscoping (Aperture priority, smallest f number, suitable ISO, macro focus mode, count down timer...).
  
• For tips on taking sharp digiscoping photos, see this video
  

watch in HD!

To set up the Swarovski UCA for a DSLR camera:

• align the supporting platform so that you have a large area, big enough to support your DSLR, as opposed to rotated and made more compact for a point and shoot camera (see video)
• attach the camera on to the removable base plate, making sure that the screw is in the centre position on the base plate (as opposed to the off-set position for many compact cameras)
  
• the type of camera objective lens you use is important for mounting and using your DSLR for digiscoping. Normally, your best bet would be to use something like a fixed 50mm f1.8 lens (aperture wide open). Pancake lenses are great as they keep the camera's weight as close to the telescope's eyepiece as possible. It is possible to use a small kit zoom with some small DSLRs. e.g. with a Canon 1000D setting the 18-55mm zoom to 37-55mm should give you a vignetting free image. The problem with zoom lenses are twofold: they generally do not have the quality of the fixed lenses, and they are longer so there is greater leverage holding the weight of the (comparatively) heavy DSLR far away from the attachment point and the scope's eyepiece.
  
• slowly slide the camera on to the mounted UCA making sure the camera lens does not bash up against the telescope's ocular lens
• adjust the height by loosening the screw on the right
  
• now loosen the large black screw underneath the platform to adjust the horizontal and distance alignment. Slowly move the camera until the front of the camera's objective lens fits snugly and centered against your spotting scope's eyecup
• TURN AUTOFOCUS OFF! you do not want to burn out your objective lens
  
• If you still have a little bit of vignetting, then adjust your objective lens's zoom to remove this. Using your telescope's zoom on the lowest magnification will give you the brightest image (biggest aperture), making it easier to take sharp photos. If you need to zoom in more, then rather use the spotting scope's zoom than the camera zoom (the quality of the former is likely to be higher than the latter)
• now that your camera is set up physically, you can use your normal camera settings to go digiscoping (Aperture priority, smallest f number, suitable ISO, count down timer...)
  
• For tips on taking sharp digiscoping photos, see this video
  

watch in HD!

Remember, there is a general rule in photography:

In order to get a sharp photo, use a shutter speed greater than the focal length

i.e. if the focal length is 50mm, use 1/60s shutter speed or faster
if the focal length is 1000mm (as is typical in digiscoping), use 1/1000sec or faster

This rule can be bent a bit, but the more you bend it, the harder it will be to get sharp digiscoping photos. This is where understanding ISO and choosing an appropriate ISO will really make a difference.

Happy digiscoping,
Dale Forbes

Eurasian Otters in Europe and Austria

I have just been reading about the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra, Fischotter) and they are, as you can well imagine, completely fascinating creatures.

First of all, their home ranges are HUGE. Males in Scotland have territories along streams and shorelines 39km long, while females only use 16-22km. They will have a good number of resting areas spread out throughout the home range. These otter resting areas are either underground, dry grass-lined dens often with an underwater entrance and separate breathing entrance (holts), and above-ground "hovers". In the areas where they are nocturnal, they typically travel 3-10km in an evening while hunting.

The original of this image is super-sharp and the colours on my mac screen as stunning. Probably my favorite digiscoping photo of the year. Digiscoped with a Swarovski Optik STM80HD, TLS800 and Canon 5DII.

I have not been able to find any recent evidence of otters in Tirol, with two major populations persisting in Austria: one in the north of the country (Waldviertel, Weinviertel in Upper Austria and Lower Austria), and one in the southeast of the country (Styria, Steiermark).

Map from the Naturschutzbund Niederösterreich report "Zur Situation des Fischotters in Österreich: Verbreitung, Lebensraum, Schutz". Green is where they were found in 2000. Red or orange means they were not found. White means the area was not investigated but unlikely to hold otters.

The two photos here are my favourite of the few digiscoping images I managed to get of the otters in Alpenzoo recently. They were both taken with a Swarovski Optik STM80 HD straight spotting scope, TLS800 digiscoping adapter, and a Canon 5D mark II.

Hopefully one day the otter will make a return to the Alps - I would love to be able to experience this incredible creature in their home environment,

Dale Forbes

Digiscoping Lions and ISO

Last year while back in South Africa on holiday, I got the wonderful opportunity of taking my parents-in-law to Kruger National Park. They are real outdoors people and love the forests and mountains of Tirol, and have always been fascinated by nature documentaries. And so it was naturally great to be able to take them out in my "home turf" and show them around.

Barbara and I had planned our perfect trip including visiting the forests of Magoebaskloof / Woodbush, and then working our way down through Kruger from Olifants Camp and then heading southwards, finishing off with a couple of nights in the forests and grasslands of Graskop and the Drakensberg mountains.

Besides the natural wonder and beauty of Kruger National Park - which is always lovely - the greatest thing of the entire journey was to experience the joy these two very dear people expressed as they discovered Africa for the very first time. It really was an honour and a great way to deepen my appreciation for my homeland.

On our second morning I had gone out wandering about the camp trying to get some digiscoping shots of the Blackheaded Orioles and Starlings on the Aloe blossoms and my father in law had spent a good while scanning the savanna for anything interesting. For those not familiar with Olifants Camp, it is set upon a largish hill with wonderful views over the Olifants River and the savanna in the background. It is a great spot for seeing eagles (I photographed 6 eagle species in one morning in the middle of Winter!). Anyhow, so he must have spent at least an hour slowly scanning the hundreds of hectares that lay before him for anything interesting.
Some impala. A couple of old elephant bulls. Three lions.
Three lions !!?
What?

I still have no idea how he saw them sitting there in the tan-coloured grass, only having a pair of 10x42 binoculars and cataracts to look through. Incredible.

It also gave me a good opportunity to make an impromptue video about ISO and digiscoping and I think it does a good job of showing just how powerful a tool digiscoping is.

What is ISO and how is it important to digiscoping?

Essentially, ISO as a camera function describes how sensitive the sensor is to the light that it receives. This means that a high ISO number means that the sensor very quickly gathers information (i.e. allows me to use a fast shutter speed) but because the picture information is gathered so quickly, the smooth quality of the photo is "penalised", introducing more grain/noise in to the photo.
At the opposite extreme, a low ISO gives you great images with very little noise, but you will only have slower shutter speeds at your disposal.

Every camera handles ISO and noise slightly differently, but let's split them generally in to the average compact cameras that are used for digiscoping and DSLRs.

ISO 800 on Canon A590IS. faster shutter speed from the high ISO made this shot possible, despite being at night. Had to sacrifice image quality through noise.

Compact digital cameras for digiscoping: With, by way way of example, a Nikon P6000 or P5100 (both very common digiscoping cameras), using the minimum ISO of 64 gives nice images, but anything above 200 tends to bring a lot of noise in to the images and is then only really interesting for key rare-bird identification photos when nothing else will work.

DSLRs for digiscoping: Entry level DSLRs like the Canon 1000D or Nikon D3000 have effective ISOs going up to 1600. This range is fairly usable, and for various reasons, when using one of these cameras, I would normally start digiscoping with an ISO1600 and drop it down to ISO800 or ISO400 if the light is good enough or I want to try for a better shot of the same subject (i.e. after the ISO1600 shot). The noise at ISO1600 is certainly noticeable in a large print with these cameras, but it really is often necessary to get a fast enough shutter speed for a sharp photo.

ISO100 on Canon A590IS. Low noise. Enough light to still get decent shutter speed.

The noise control of larger DSLRs (e.g. the Canon 7D or Nikon D300s) is considerably better than the little ones, making results at ISO1600 much more appealing. This effect is even stronger with a full format camera (on a TLS800 as normal digiscoping does not work) - the Canon 5D mark II has exceptional noise control and can take some great photos at ISO1600. But even with the Canon 5D mark II, I will normally try to drop the ISO whenever possible.

There is a general rule in photography:

In order to get a sharp photo, use a shutter speed greater than the focal length

i.e. if the focal length is 50mm, use 1/60s shutter speed or faster
if the focal length is 1000mm (as is typical in digiscoping), use 1/1000sec or faster

This rule can be bent a bit, but the more you bend it, the harder it will be to get sharp photos. This is where playing with your ISO will really make a difference.

Olive Sunbird and Grey Sunbird digiscoped

Sunbirds are these crazy crazy creatures that spend their lives flying about behind a ridiculously long decurved bill. I suppose they are what results when a songbird decides it wants to look like a curlew or whimbrel (only prettier).

One of the birds that I really loved as a young birdwatcher and ringer was the Eastern Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea aka Cyanomitra olivacea; Olivnektarvogel). I know it as a coastal or scarp forest bird species, typically liking open sunny forest clearings, and drifting in to gardens and wandering up and down riparian forest watercourses.

As sunbirds go, the Olive Sunbird is rather drab, sporting matt green plumage. But it is when the males get excited that they start to stand out. They have these little bushels of bright yellow feathers that they poke out of their shoulders in territorial disputes or when a predator - like the African Goshawk - is about.

Olive sunbird in a Common Coral Tree aka Lucky Bean Tree (Erythrina lysistemon) digiscoped using Swarovski Optik STM80HD spotting scope, 25-50x zoom eyepiece, Swarovski UCA digiscoping adapter, Canon's baby DSLR the 1000D.

But the absolute bestest thing about the Olive Sunbird is its call (play xeno canto recording by Patrik Åberg here). It might not be the most incredible call, but this is what my home forests sound like to me. It is like drinking from a fountain of joy and youth to hear it whistling away in the forest.

A closely related and equally non-flamboyant sunbird species is the Grey Sunbird (Nektarinia veroxii aka Cyanomitra veroxii aka Mouse-coloured Sunbird; Graunektarvogel). The grey sunbird lives in much the same habitat and has a similar southern African distribution to the Eastern Olive Sunbird, although I generally found it somewhat less common. However, it could well be that the grey sunbird just does not sing as much as the olive sunbird, but this is just speculation on my part.

While the Olive Sunbird has the bright yellow "I'm all excited" flashlights, the Grey Sunbird has bright red shoulder tufts which it flaunts in the face of competition. But it seems less likely to show these off than the olive sunbirds.

peeky boo said the grey sunbird

Despite having those ridiculously long bills, sunbirds actually get a whole lot of their dietary requirements from insects; caught mainly on the wing. The flowers give the sugars and fast-energy fuel; while the insects provide the necessary proteins and long-term support for reproduction and body maintenance.

Sunbird really are lovely, I should post a few more photos of them...

Happy birding,

Dale Forbes

TLS800 Telescope Photography System by Swarovski Optik

Many of my recent posts have been littered with photos taken with the TLS800 telescope photography adapter, and a good number of people have asked for more information about it, so I thought I would post a video I made last year explaining how to setup and use the TLS800 adapter.

In the video, I am using a Nikon D3x. A good friend of mine has a boss with too much money with which he has no idea what he should do with it all. Said boss bought a now unused Nikon D3 a year ago and for the last week I have been permitted to borrow and play with it. soooo much fun! I am such a techno geek

Essentially how it works is that the ocular/eyepiece is removed from the telescope and replaced with an optical tube with a bayonet fitting on the one side (to lock in to the spotting scope body), and a thread at the other end to which a T2 adapter is attached(available from any DSLR camera dealer). The T2 then clicks straight in to your DSLRs camera body. This means that the telescope and adapter effectively become an 800mm super-telephoto objective lens for any DSLR camera by using a fitting T2 ring.

The things that suck about the TLS800:
Compared to the Canon DO EF 400mm f4 with an EF doubler (i.e. also 800mm) I have also been using recently, the TLS800 only has manual focus (but with doubler I also lost autofocus on the 400mm f4), it has no image stabilizer, and it has a fixed aperture f10. Having said that, I was completely unimpressed by the autofocus functionality of the Canon EF 400mm f4 and ended up using it only in manual focus anyway.
Naturally, having the extra series of wide apertures available to me meant that I could gather more light and still take photos in rather tough conditions. And having the image stabilisation when I was free-hand holding the camera and lens meant that I could take sharp photos at just a little slower shutter speed, and that made a real difference in the late evening light (see the Achensee swan photos here). A caveat about the image stabilisation- this was a nice to have, but is only useful when free-holding the lens (i.e. it should not be used with a tripod as it makes shake worse instead of helping it). This then leaves one manual focussing a great big heavy lens in a rather awkward position. The sheer bulk and weight of the 400mm f4 telephoto lens meant that the longer I had it, the less I would actually take it out with me. And I would certainly never take it birding.
Don't get me wrong, I love this lens. Stapped to a Canon 5D mark II, I had a huge amount of fun with it and got some lovely photos to scatter about my macbook. But my nature photography and birding generally takes me places on foot; and for this, the EF 400mm f4 is rather impractical.

Which brings me back to why I love the TLS800 so much. And I do. And it is not just because I know the guy who designed it ;-)
I like the TLS800 because it really does give me a light and portable alternative to super-telephoto photography, and it fits my style of nature photography/observation. With a full format camera like the Canon 5D mark II (and an ISO of say 1600), I can take flight shots of birds free-hand, and the swans/ducks in the second photo in the Whooper Swans and Bean Geese blog post were photographed when it was really seriously dark. Sunset was already long forgotten.

Some of my favorite photos were taken with the TLS800:
the first leopard in this blog post (taken with a little Canon EOS 1000D)
the flying Goldeneye shots from a few weeks ago
"my" local black kites last year (with a really crummy Canon EOS 350D)
the rock partridge

And the best thing is that if I pack an ocular/eyepiece in my pocket, I can very quickly switch between photography and observation. Which makes me much more likely to drag a camera and scope about wherever I go. I can't wait until the Wallcreepers come back in spring!!!

Swarovski Optik Digiscoper of the Year Winners 2009

The Digiscoper of the Year competition has been run by Swarovski Optik since 2006 and the growth in the quality of the contributions from year to year has been astounding.

A stunning Great Crested Grebe by Manuel Esteban Ruiz
the quality and number of entries coming out of Spain this year was truly remarkable.
It seems the Spanish are really leading the way with digiscoping

... and Digiscoper of the Year 2010 was probably the most outstanding to date. There were literally hundreds of entries of which I thought: "wow, now that is a nice photo!"

Arctic Tern by Paco Ruiz - a great action shot

How were the winning digiscoping photos chosen? There were 8 regional competitions (1 each in UK, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands; and 4 in the USA: Birwatcher's Digest, BirdChick, Eastman's, and the Western Hunter) and an international Digiscoper of the Year competition, each with their own separate websites and juries. The winners from the regional competitions were awarded prizes and automatically added to the selection of images entered directly in to the International Digiscoper of the Year competition. The jury for the international competition (3 independent photo experts and 1 Swarovski Optik employee; 4 different countries) was then presented with all the international entries without prejudice or knowledge of which entries had won in the various regional competitions. The points awarded by the jury members were then tallied to determine the winners.

Snow Bunting by Peter Nilsson - exceptional use of exposure and lighting!

As I am sure you can imagine, judging photographs is incredibly difficult and in many ways personal. The entries this year were of an incredible standard with hundreds of images I really liked: showing off great composition, rare moments, action and artistic beauty. Digiscoping is really growing leaps and bounds both in the numbers of practitioners and in the skill level being shown and we (Swarovski Optik) will continue to try to find ways to support this development.

This year's Digiscoper of the Year will start in April 2010.

Happy digiscoping,
Dale Forbes

Flying Mallards digiscoped

Here are some Mallard photos I took while out at Bodensee, just a few minutes before the Goldeneye digiscoping photos.

It is so easy to take our common birds for granted, but Mallards really are beautiful.

Here is a larger version of one of the Goldeneye photos:

All photos digiscoped with the Swarovski Optik STM80HD spotting scope, TLS800 telescope photography adapter and Canon EOS 5D mark II.

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes

Goldeneye takeoff digiscoped with TLS800 and Canon 5DII

While at the Bodensee (Lake Constance) a couple of weeks ago, I had a few opportunities to digiscope some Goldeneyes. These are one of the most incredibly beautiful ducks, and I love them.

All digiscoped with a Canon EOS 5D mark II, a TLS800 telescope photography adapter, and a Swarovski Optik STM80HD telescope. These are just tiny versions of the 5616 wide images.

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes

latest video: aperture and aperture priority

I have just finished another "how to" video explaining aperture and aperture priority and how you can make it work for your in photography and digiscoping. I am off to Bodensee (border of Switzerland, Germany and Austria) in 10minutes, but when I get back in a couple of days, I will write a real post about aperture and digiscoping.

If you like the video, PLEASE RATE IT!

go ahead, give it some stars!

happy birding,
Dale Forbes

Rock Partridge digiscoped

The Rock Partridge is a stunning bird of the grouse family - one of my favourites, really. They are also incredibly difficult to find in the Tirolean Alps, and I only know of a few places where they have been recorded.

Rock Partridge digiscoped with Canon EOS 5D mark II, TLS800 telescope photography adapter, and Swarovski Optik STM80HD telescope, in Alpenzoo.

My one encounter thus far with real wild Rock Partridges here in Tirol was last spring up near Kühtai. I had stopped off in an area where I knew Rock Partridges had been seen before, and got out to take a panorama photo. This is the hastily stitched together result:

The road on the right is the western portion of the road on the left.

Very quickly I heard the distinctive call of the Rock Partridge (play in Xeno-Canto). I never managed to see them, but they were there!

Maybe next spring I will have more luck.

Happy birding,

Dale Forbes

Canon 5D mark II digiscoping with TLS800

Recently, I have been using the Canon Eos 5D mark II a fair amount, and it makes a great camera for digiscoping using the TLS800 adapter. To be completely honest, I have been astounded by the quality of the results. Here are some photos of Chamois I took at Alpenzoo last week.

I liked this guy's expression

Happy digiscoping,
Dale Forbes

Digiscoping website

Anyone who has spent any time on my blog knows that I am somewhat obsessed with digiscoping and birds. oh, and wildlife. along that line, we have just launched a brand new digiscoping website:

http://www.swarovskioptik.com/en/digiscoping

with tons and tons of information (and some photos and videos, naturally).

The major sections are:
Principles - what is digiscoping?
Benefits and special features of digiscoping
Digiscoping Tips & Tricks - everything from basic digiscoping "getting started" to in-depth digiscoping knowledge
Digiscoping cameras - how, why, what, when, considerations...
Digiscoping equipment - everything you may be wondering about what you need and why
Digiscoping FAQ's - what is aperture; what is my focal length; and lots lots more

We worked really hard at it, and it will hopefully be very useful for lots and lots of budding digiscopers out there...

Here is a stunning picture from my blogger friend Kevin Bolton of a Short-billed Dowitcher. This was one of the winning images in the BirdChick section of Digiscoper of the Year 2009. Congrats Kevin!


It is -10°C outside but the sun is shining on the snow, and I really have to get out and go take some photos! Work can wait till tomorrow ;-)

Happy digiscoping,
Dale Forbes

Five tips for sharp digiscoping - Hippos in South Africa

Here are five things you should consider when wanting to get crisp, sharp digiscoping photos:

1. Get good focus - use the optical viewfinder of a DSLR or macro autofocus of a compact camera.

2. Understand your camera settings - use ISO and Aperture setting to get photos with low noise (low ISO) and with a wide open aperture (smallest f number in Aperture Priority mode) to get the fastest shutter speed possible for those conditions.

3. Use a remote release of countdown timer - anything that lets you reduce the shake of the camera will improve the sharpness of the images taken with the digiscoping setup

4. Use a stable platform - carbonfibre tripods are light and dampen vibrations effectively. If you are using a tripod, make sure you use a telescope balance rail as adding the weight to the back of the telescope tends to pull the whole setup out of balance and introduce/accentuate camera shake. Even better than a tripod is a Bean Bag. These are very easy to make and - filled with beans, rice or corn - make excellent vibration-dampening camera/telescope supports.

5. Use good quality optics - photographers have been saying this for decades: buy good quality lenses first, and then think about upgrading your camera body. Applied to digiscoping, the quality of the image coming through your scope will largely determine the quality of the image you are able to get out of your digiscoping setup.

btw, those really are real live hippos in the background. they kill more people in Africa than all other living creatures put together: snakes, bees, sharks, lions, spiders... (oh, that list is long)

This video is from our new Swarovski Optik Birding YouTube channel, please go along and subscribe, we'll be bringing out lots of cool videos in the future (and there are already some there).

Happy digiscoping,
Dale

Pygmy Cormorant Zwergscharbe Delta del Po, Italy

In May, Clay Taylor and I spent a few days in Italy's dream birding location - the Delta del Po. One of the highlights is the thousands of Pygmy Cormorants (Zwergscharbe) floating/flying about. They really are an abundant bird in the Po Delta - and I suspect - a good deal of the reason why they are spreading throughout the region now (Martin and I saw two Pygmy Shags in Neusiedlersee last weekend).

The highlight of the trip was being taken to the hide near Ravenna. Here are some digiscoping photos from our time with the Pygmy Cormorants there:

A nice sillouette:

While we were at the Pygmy Cormorant hide, we made a little video on the UCA digiscoping adapter which I have posted here before - it also has some videoscoping shots of the Pygmy Cormorants:

Happy birding, Dale Forbes

"Pray for Ice" ice climbing competition 2009

This last week has been super busy, Saturday I was at the Alpinmesse in Innsbruck all day (an expo all about Alpine Sport). Sunday was spent in final preparations for Monday's press event for journalists where we presented the new Swarovski Optik EL 42 Swarovision binocular - I will have to write about it some time this week for it truly is an incredible binocular. But back to Saturday...

Swarovski Optik had a stand in the Alpinmesse and I took along a pile of digiscoping stuff to take photos. Right in front of our stand was a huge big dry-wall for climbing set up for the 2009 "Pray for Ice" ice climbing (Eisklettern) competition.

For the most part I was a good 25m away from the wall so that I could be at a higher level. I tried to position myself to be able to get images that included the climbers' faces, which wasn't that easy.

These guys and gals were incredible climbers and their athletic ability was amazing. It was great to be able to get right up close and personal to the climbers in the photos - something that is rarely possible in real life.

These photos were taken with the Swarovski straight telescope (STM80HD), the TLS800 digiscoping adapter and a Canon EOS 5D II. Being in a relatively dark expo hall meant that it was often difficult to get sharp photos with such shutter speeds. But there were a few gems in the photos I did manage to take.

Happy digiscoping,

Dale Forbes