Advertisement
Advertisement
Read Next

How An Auto-Leveling Tripod Makes Life Easier For Photographers
Getting your tripod level can be...
Fujifilm X-H2S Review
Read our review of the X-H2S to find...
5 Reasons To Buy A High-Quality And Adjustable Tripod
Shopping for a tripod can be confusing....
Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG DN Art Lens Review
Nobody else makes a lens like the Sigma...Advertisement
Featured Articles

Read More
Visualize, Plan, Shoot!
How to use maps and apps to plan the images you imagine.

Read More
Best Cameras For Wildlife Photography
To capture the decisive moment in animal activity and behavior, choose a camera with the AF performance, speed and image quality that are up to the task.

Read More
Destination Yellowstone
Adam Jones on photographing the elements that give America’s first national park its out-of-this-world reputation.

Read More
Exploring Our National Wildlife Refuge System
The National Wildlife Refuge System protects vital habitats, making them excellent destinations for wildlife photographers.

Read More
Landscape Photography Lenses
Our guide to wide-angle lenses, the most popular and useful optics for landscape photography.

Read More
Peavine Cove
Watson Lake Park is located four miles north of downtown Prescott, Arizona.
This is the 1st of your 3 free articles
Become a member for unlimited website access and more.
FREE TRIAL Available!
Learn More
Already a member? Sign in to continue reading
Solutions: BushHawk Shoulder Mount
As an avid bird photographer, I’ve tried to photograph birds with big telephoto lenses. When I used film, I shot lots of pictures, but didn’t get many keepers. After I purchased my first digital SLR camera and had taken lots of travel pictures, I decided to try it out on the birds. I visited our local lake and found that I could catch a few birds in flight. The real benefit was that I could trash my bad images without the cost of developing them, so I kept at it and seemed to get better. I tried different tripod and ballhead combinations, but I still wasn’t satisfied with the images.
Then I came across the BushHawk, which reminded me of a shotgun, except instead of a gun barrel, it had a camera lens attached to a camera. It looked intriguing, so I bought one and attached my Canon EOS 10D to a Sigma 400mm. I headed off to the zoo, and the images I captured surprised me—they were beautiful, crisp and clear, and tack-sharp.
I’ve since used the BushHawk for both bird photography and sports photography. On my wall, I have an image that I can see from my desk of a windsurfer with the board’s mast parallel to the horizon as he surfs a wave in Maui. For my long-lens photography, the BushHawk has been a revelation.
I’ve been photographing at the Gilbert Water Ranch in Arizona for a number of years. There are thousands of birds there, and I spend most every Saturday morning searching for them. I use a Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and an EF 400mm ƒ/5.6L USM lens. My photography of birds in flight has become fun and rewarding. I get more keepers, and I enjoy the process of photography much more than I ever did using a tripod setup. Bird-flight photography is an integral part of my life, and the BushHawk has been a big part of my success. I don’t go anywhere where birds are flying without it.
2 Open the lens to the maximum ƒ-stop
3 Set the minimum ISO for the light of the day
4 Set the camera to AV; then go looking for birds. As I see a bird flying, I raise my BushHawk and aim my camera on the bird, with the image within the small circle in my viewfinder centered on the bird. I follow the bird, holding down my trigger and take several images.
The gunstock-style BushHawk lets you photograph with a long lens that you can keep steady. For fans of the device, there’s no substitute for getting dramatic, on-the-wing images.
Contact: BushHawk, (800) 325-8542, www.bushhawk.com.