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- Verified Buyer
This book is wonderful as a piece of instructional material (picking a shutter speed, mode, lens, etc.) and as a primer to the actual practice and business of being a pro bird photographer... birding hotspots, travel tips, concrete ideas for marketing and selling your pics, etc. They aren't afraid to recommend specific gear, specific hotels and tours, and even websites where you can sell your work. And most of the info, though centered around northern europe, is relevant to everyone.The authors understood that some of the gear they mention will be dated a few years after they wrote this, but you can figure out pretty quickly what you need and who makes it and where to get it. And the locations they recommend will probably still be great places to see birds in a hundred years.It's fascinating to read about their dedication, which includes making their own blinds, sleeping in a tiny tent outdoors in the winter, and even building their own homemade contraptions... one of the authors has made a remote control box to house his camera so it can rest in a marsh or snowy pine and capture pics of birds from distances that would otherwise be impossible. Imagine filling the frame with a bird using an ultra wide angle lens... how's that possible? This book will tell you.The photos blew me away and my only regret is I got this book the same way I get all my others these days... electronically, rather than buying a physical copy. But some of the photos really need to be seen in print, filling a big page, not as tiny jpegs on my phone screen. If you're reading this before buying, consider buying the print edition, even if you usually prefer the kindle edition of most books.
