Small Scopes

Flying bird photo competition

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There were more entries than ever and photographers used film cameras, digital single lens reflexes, and one winner even used a digital "point and shoot" camera coupled to a spotting scope.

This technique, called "digiscoping," is becoming more and more common in the birding world.

But the top winner this year didn't use a digital camera as had many previous winners. He used his trusty Nikon F5 film camera.

The only trouble with having so many talented photographers is that the judges have to narrow it down to seven winners. Many photos that might have won in other contests had to be passed over. We would like to thank everyone who entered.

• Third place from Wildbirds Unlimited goes to Howard Sands of Eagle Point for his shot of a male western bluebird. Howard says he took this wonderful photo with his Canon Powershot and a 20x Spacemaster spotting scope.
• The third-place winner from The Northwest Nature Shop is Bob Hearth of Medford. His wonderful photo of a great egret was captured at Denman Wildlife Area near White City. Bob says he used a Canon F1 camera and a 500mm lens.
• Second Place from Wildbirds Unlimited goes to Mike Dickenson of White City. This beautiful osprey shot was taken at Tou Velle State Park and Mike says he used a Canon 20D camera and a 75-300mm lens.
• The second-place winner from The Northwest Nature Shop is Jim Higday of Medford. Jim's great photo of a northern saw-whet owl was taken in Eastern Oregon and Jim used a Kodak Z 740 camera.
• First place from Wildbirds Unlimited goes to L. Dale Pickering of Medford. L. Dale's outstanding photo of our national bird was shot at Lower Klamath Lake. Bald eagles usually are difficult to approach but L. Dale did it with an Olympus C765UZ camera.
• First place from The Northwest Nature Shop is awarded to Geanie Flanigan of Medford. Her superb shot of a great egret at J.J. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge in Florida shows off her skill as a nature photographer. The exposure and composition are what makes a good photo great.
• Finally, the grand prize awarded by Total Camera and Video was captured by Martin Livingston of White City. His remarkable shot of an Osprey capturing a fish is truly outstanding. This is a technically perfect and exciting nature photograph. The exposure, sharpness, and action are tops. And, this is truly the essence of this bird. Congratulations, Martin!

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posted by Tako John @ 7:15 PM