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“Lightweight” bird photography:

  1. We use lenses maximally 1.5 kilogram, handheld/light tripod being always mobile and versatile.
  2. We try to recognize birds timely avoiding disturbing the birds.
  3. We always use camouflage.
  4. We use exclusively high quality equipment.
  5. We use our “APERTURE Mode Birds“: no camera reset whatsoever during actual photography.

Photographing the infinite beauty of birds …

Spain sun Bee Eater (Bijeneter) size 28cm distance 25m equivalent 1260mm, total camouflage. Notice black feathers wing tops!

… but also their behavior: flying, fighting, singing, displaying, mating, foraging, feeding:

Holland sun and shadow Little Owl (Steenuil) size 22cm distance 12m substantial camouflage, stretching wing …
Holland cloudy Reggedal 2025 Cormorant (Aalscholver) size 90cm distance 40m equivalent 1500mm taking off, APERTURE Mode Birds.
Holland sun 2025 White Stork (Ooievaar) size 101cm distance 35m equivalent 1050mm. He is caressing her in the way Storks do this, APERTURE Mode Birds.
red kite
Holland sun Red Kite (Rode Wouw) size 63cm distance 65m equivalent 1050mm D500 Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR standard camouflage APERTURE Mode Birds.
Holland river IJssel june 2025 sun Black Tern (Zwarte Stern) feeding juveniles size 25cm distance 75m Nikon Z7 II Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR equivalent 1500mm APERTURE Mode Birds total camouflage.
Holland heavy overcast strong wind 2014 Kingfisher (IJsvogel), size 22cm distance 25m.

… their environment …

squirrel
Holland december 2025 cloudy Squirrel 35m, collecting nest materials building its winter nest in our garden, APERTURE Mode Birds, equivalent 1050mm.
Holland sun 2025 Sint Jans vlinder.
Lesbos 2011 Monarch distance 15m Nikon D300 and excellent oldtimer Nikkor 300mm f/4D.
Holland 2025 cloudy (Parasolzwam) Nikon Z7 II and our beloved top quality lightweight Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR.
Holland 2025 sun Hare (Haas) distance 40m Z7 II Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR equivalent 1500mm standard camouflage. Stellar detail by Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR at 40m: look e.g. at white hair (snorharen)!
Holland 2025 Squirrel (Eekhoorn), diligent foraging competitor of birds, APERTURE Mode Birds.

We will also explain some indispensable photo techniques:

Holland shadow 2025 Sparrow Hawk (Sperwer) near pond in our garden size 33cm distance 40m Z7 II Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF VR equivalent 750mm total camouflage, APERTURE mode Birds. Bird was but few seconds at this spot but our camera was all set …
Holland heavy overcast Great White Heron, 93cm 65m, equivalent 1050mm, -1.5EV: APERTURE Mode Birds delivers optimally detailed at the same time in-focus pictures and deals with unpredictable or unexpected bird action.
Part 1 of a “focus & recompose”– technique:
Holland cloudy 2025 Grey Heron (Blauwe Reiger) size 94cm distance 30m equivalent 1500mm. Three photographic techniques were used, to get an in-focus correctly exposed picture of the bird moving and foraging, partly hidden behind vegetation. (Next picture shows part 2 of “focus & recompose”-action).
Part 2 of “focus & recompose”– trechnique:
Holland cloudy Aug 2025 Grey Heron (Blauwe Reiger) size 94cm distance 30m equivalent 1500mm. Focus & recompose technique applied. This very picture was used ONLY to focus the camera. Any following picture will contain in-focus bird even if bird is partly hidden behind vegetation like the in picture part 1.

We’ll show some other techniques elsewhere at this site.

Holland 2020 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at the time, 2020, a regular guest in our garden. Thereafter the next observation was october 2025! Their numbers are decreasing alarmingly!

Interested? Everything you need to know is at a 6 pages workshop in this blog:

Workshop “Lightweight Bird Photography”:

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Legenda:

  • Some pages are translated in Dutch, marked “Dutch”, originals being marked “English”.
  • Distances up to 45 meter are more or less measured, otherwise estimated.
  • Pictures by default created using tripod or tribike for some stabilisation, otherwise marked “handheld“.
  • Contact: amevanbaren@gmail.com (Annemiek) or dikbaren@gmail.com (Dik).

NikonLightBirding base version 31 aug 2024 updated through 4 january 2026.