Getting my first mirrorless camera: A Canon R5

I bought this amazing camera to take with me to The Arctic thanks to the generosity of a cash gift from Michael in tribute to Sue.  I was absolutely blown away by the camera, especially by it's incredible face recognition and eye tracking. It automatically focuses in on the eye of an animal or bird, allowing you to concentrate on the composure of the shot instead. It allowed me to get amazing photos of polar bears and birds in flight. It really is ground break technology that allows you to take wildlife photography to a new level.

I bought a series of lenses to go with the camera. My favourite is the 100 - 500 mm lens which is an incredible wildlife lens. It focuses really quickly and is wonderfully sharp.

Canon 90D

I upgraded to the 90D from my 70D. I retrospect I shouldn't have. I should have invested in a mirrorless camera. 

Canon 70D

I upgraded to a 70D from my 40D.  

The wonderful Tamron 16 - 300 mm lens

The Tamron provides an incredible focal range, providing excellent versatility without needing to replace lenses. I used to much prefer prime lenses for sharpness, but am now sold on wide zooms like this one.

Photography lessons

Here I am giving photography lessons to little Sebastian. He turned out to be a most attentive and quick learning student!! Now he just needs to do weight training so he can lift the camera himself...
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Canon 40D

I upgraded to a 40D from my 30D. 

Canon EF 500 F4

This lens was my greatest ever extravagance. I lusted after it for months, reading all the reviews. I bought it in a massive rush of dopamine. It took sublime photos of birds, but was so bulky and heavy, I hardly used it.  I ended up selling it to my photography friend, Craig, but obviously for less than I paid for it.

 

Birding at Bicentennial Park with my new 500 mm F4 lens

I had a successful morning of birding at the Sydney Olympic Park. Some of the land has been reclaimed including Belverdere Lake (part of Bicentennial Park). I got to take some nice pictures (see below) and also saw three new bird species: Chestnut Teal, Brown Honeyeater and Red Whiskered Bulbul.

Baby Stilts doing the ballet (aren't they cute!)

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Adult Stilts (nice reflection!)
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Welcome Swallow (saying goodmorning)
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Splendid Fairy Wrens (Females).

Male Superb Fairywren
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Red Whiskered Bulbul (beautiful)
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Brown Honeyeater 

.Silver Gull  
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Little Pied Cormorant

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Crested Pigeon

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Chestnut Teal

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Pacific Black Duck

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Willie wagtail.
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The lake where I took the photos

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Down the barrel of my lens.

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Bigger is better! Well perhaps not for my back...

My, how my cameras have grown as my photography passion has grown. OK, so I am showing my largest bird lens here, but you get the picture. From ixus i to camera S21S to canon 30d with a mega 300 2.8 lens. Its heavy, but then as the saying goes, one has to suffer for one's art.

Now that's what I call a lens

The wet dream of lenses - the Canon 600 f4.0. A steal at only £ 6500!

My first digital SLR: A Canon 30D

I bought the SLR camera in Hong Kong and the lenses in Sydney. What a wonderful camera. It's revolutionising my photography, especially my bird photos with my powerful 300 mm and 400 mm lens.

Lenses

Canon 17 - 55 mm 2.8

Canon 10 - 20 mm

Canon 100 mm Macro

Canon 70 - 200 mm 2.8

Canon 400 mm 5.6

Canon 300 mm 2.8