Birds at Venus Drive

This series of bird pictures were taken around Venus Drive carpark. The short stretch of natural vegetation around the Venus Drive carpark and the starting point of the trail to tree-top-walk attracts various species of birds. If you are also a bird lover, this is one place you might want to visit!

Kingfisher on the antenna

Earlier this afternoon I was standing at my kitchen window watching a group of pigeons flying about from the void deck to another, probably in search of food. Suddenly I heard some loud calls coming from high above. It sounds like the call of kingfishers but there isn’t a pond or pool near my block except in Bishan Park some 50 meters from my block. I thought I was mistaken because it is pretty strange to find kingfisher so high on an apartment block!

Somehow the call keeps ringing in my ear loud and clear, so I look up and scrutinised the rooftop of the opposite block. To my surprise, I saw a bird that looks like a kingfisher on the antenna. I quickly ran back to my room, fixed up my 100-400mm lens and a 1.4x tele-converter on my Canon 40D then run back to the kitchen windows. The whole process probably took me around 1 minute and luckily the bird is still there when I returned.

I aimed my lens at the bird but the AF is hunting like crazy so I quickly switch to manual focus and triggered off a few bursts hoping to grab a few shots in case the bird decided to fly away! Thankfully, the kingfisher decided to stay put much longer given me time to re-adjust my focus and to take more pictures!

I wanted to take more shots but my arms were getting tired holding the lens up high and my neighbour on the opposite must be thinking I’m a peeping tom pointing such a big lens in the direction of their house! I confident that I would find some usable shots out of the twenty something frames so I returned to my computer to view the pictures and select these few pictures to share with all of you.

A Poor Man Tele Lens

I have always envy all those nature photographers who own the top of the range telephoto lenses such as the 500mmf4 or 600mmf4. These lenses are the best for capturing small birds and wildlife from a distance. The price range of $12000-18000 is way too expensive for me so I have to settle for something more within my budget.

Well, since I already own a 100-400mm zoom, I went and got myself a 1.4x tele-converter so I could have a 500mm lens at a fraction of the cost! Off course, there will be some draw back like the f-stop becomes f8 and the autofocus is gone on my 40D camera. I could not do much about the small f8 stops but I managed to find an article on the Internet that helps to restore the autofocus function on my lens. Although I could only use the center focus point and the autofocus becoming slightly sluggish with the 1.4x tele-converter, it beats having to manually focus the lens with the dimmed viewfinder due to the small aperture!

Following is a series of photos taken last Saturday at the Botanic Garden after I purchase the tele-converter. I was focusing the lens manually because I have yet to discover the article on restoring the autofocus. Although it is quite difficult to get a precise focus with the dimmed viewfinder, I really enjoyed myself throughout the session with the extra reach of my lens!