Many birders enjoy taking photographs when out birding. Whether at one end of the spectrum you take "snaps" to help you identify what you have seen (record shots) or at the other extreme you hump rucksacks full of elaborate and expensive technology with you up hill and down dale, the end is the same - a personally satisfactory photograph of those great birds.

If you are already an expert photographer you probably know more about it than we do (let's be honest for a moment) so you can skip this bit and go to the links where you should find something of interest. For the rest of you, we hope this sets you on the right tracks because we are trying to keep it simple ..... there are lots of sites, books, courses etc about bird photography but if you have ever said to yourself "I wish I could do that" here is a way that is accessible and which works.

There are two sorts of photography - the traditional stuff with film and then there's digital photography. For the birder who is half way serious about this, the option is more and more often to turn to digital procedures and as often as not to couple the camera to his/her spotting scope - thereby becoming a "digiscoper". Don't you just love these neologisms? But what is it?

Digiscoping

As a birder you already quite probably have a decent spotting scope and these days there is a fair chance that you also have a digital camera. Use the first to give the magnified image to the second and you are digiscoping.

Naturally there is just a little more to it than that - but not a lot. We could go into minute and excriciating detail about the mechanics of this but why reinvent the wheel when the information is already available on the web ..... have a look at these web sites and then come back to us with your questions if there is something you don't follow.

Basically, digiscoping means that you can have the equivalent of a 3000mm lens just by taking along with you the spotting scope you would have anyway plus a small digital camera and an ada[pter to allow the one to take pictures through the other. This is lighter, cheaper and more flexible than "traditional" photographic equipment - especially for record shots.

Digiscoping & Digital Birding

Souvenirs ailés (a Montreal photographer's site)

Birding America's guide to digiscoping

Digiscoped.com ( a UK site with many useful hints on equipment)

Birds of Manitoba (all these pictures were digiscoped)

Of course, if you want to get into real photography then the sky really is the limit in terms of technology and expense ....... we suggest you Google your way to one of the many, many specialist sites that will help you decided what you need to get started.