A Photo Gallery of Birds I photographed in 2020

Hi friends!

This is my last post for the current year and I thought it would be a good idea to share with you some of the pictures with birds I’ve taken during 2020 that I’m especially fond of. I initially wanted to name this article “Best Bird Pictures Taken in 2020” or something similar but such appreciations might be pretty subjective and possibly arrogant (or might create such an appearance). So I thought it’s best to let you judge the “goodness” of my photos and decide if they really stand out.

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Autumn in the Mountains (2)

Hi friends!

Two years ago I wrote this article regarding the beauty of autumn mentioning that one of the best sightseeing periods in the mountains is October (if the weather is good). This year I tried to repeat this trip in the same month but unfortunately the weather and some personal things that I needed to solve prevented me from doing this. So I went on the same route a month after, namely at the beginning of November.

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More Findings on Photographing Birds

Hi again friends!

Another year has almost passed with all the good and the bad stuff. Time runs faster and faster, its flow never stops. And neither do the birds! Well they stop from time to time to rest on a branch, on sidewalks or roofs and then they fly again. Or they keep swimming into lakes and seas in search for their precious food. Either way for me it is a delight both watching and photographing them. For improving my bird photography results, this year I even bought a new lens (Tamron 100-400mm f4.5-6.3) which is both faster (in autofocus) and longer than the old one (a 70-300mm Tamron). After using it more times I came to some conclusions both regarding settings and taking bird pictures in general, some of which might apply to other photographic genres as well.

Let me share my new findings with you.

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Meet Dragonflies and Damselflies

Hi friends!

It’s been a pretty long while since I’m shooting insect photos. So far I’ve discovered several species through my macro lens: bees, wasps, beetles, ants, butterflies etc. I usually encounter many of these when going outdoors on a warm spring or summer day. However I occasionally meet some more “special” types and when I see them one of the possible words that comes into my thoughts is: “jackpot”! Today is a great day!

One of these interesting types is the dragonfly or sometimes its smaller (let’s say thinner) “cousin”, the damselfly. I find both of them so fascinating that I think they deserve a fully dedicated post. And this is what this article is about.

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The Beauty of Dobrogea (Romania). Two Places Worth Visiting

Hi friends!

Let me tell you a few words about my last trip. Three weeks ago my fiancee and I travelled to Jurilovca which is a small village in Dobrogea (Dobruja – south-east of Romania) standing close to the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. It’s a beautiful and quiet settlement founded and inhabited by lipovans (Russian ethnics). If one looks for relaxation this is the right place to arrive. The only thing to be aware are the mosquitos, one really needs to bring a good spray for protection (we found out this fact in most of the evenings!). The village itself does not have many sightseeing attractions except for the mini-port. However it’s an excellent starting point for exploring the area.

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The Game of Light and Shadow

Hi folks!

Photography is about light. It literally means drawing with light. For this reason the light quality is the primary factor of getting a good photo. There are two scenarios that come into play: the indoor scenario where the light is controllable (say studio) and shooting outdoors. In the latter one the situation is completely different as we are talking about lots of sub-scenarios: morning sun, noon/afternoon, overcast sky with clearly defined clouds, continuous clouds with no clear boundaries, magic sunset, fog, sky after rain and so on. The quality of light gets influenced by many factors which proves to be quite a challenge for the artist. Actually some photographers first carefully check the weather forecast in a specific region prior to going out in the field. A little pre-work might really make the difference!

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Meet the Ringflash (2)

Hi friends!

In previous post I presented you some indoor subjects photograhed during the two months quarantine that was imposed in Romania due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this I promised you a new article about the ring flash usage. Now it’s time for me to fulfil my promise. So let’s get to the subject!

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Pictures Taken During Quarantine (Lockdown)

Hi guys,

This is my first post after the “official” end of quarantine in Romania. As in many other countries the pandemic situation caused a lockdown so all inhabitants had to stay in their houses unless a good justification was in place to go out. And of course photography was not accepted as a reason. 

I won’t comment much on this situation as the internet is full of opinions and to be honest I’m pretty fed up with this subject. What I would like to talk about instead is how I handled this from a photographic point of view.

As probably mentioned before I consider myself an outdoor photographer and taking nature pictures is almost synonym with “get out of the house”. Consequently by being forced into a “house arrest” my options were severely limited so I had to find more opportunities indoors. Let me present you the ones I found and took advantage of.

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Moonlight (2)

Hi folks,

It’s been some time since I took my last moonscape photos so I thought I should give it a shot. Actually there are two reasons I decided to “return” to the moon: one the one hand when a national lockdown is in place there are less options for nature photography as the concept of “outdoor” fades out. Fortunately it is not forbidden to photograph the sky from home, neither in daytime or at night. On the other hand I bought a new long lens three months ago (Tamron 100-400) and from the very beginning I wanted to test it in moonlight.

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Why Snow is a Perfect Setup for Photography (2)

Hi folks!

As already mentioned in this post, snow is a perfect opportunity to take memorable pictures. In the current article I’ll continue the debate on this subject by focusing on urban areas.

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