Bird migration...or photography while lying down
The Bird Migration Has Begun...
At the Baltic Sea, I have the opportunity to photograph waders both on the beach and in bodies of water with shallow shore areas or flooded meadows.
On the beach, it's often enough to lie down on your stomach and wait until the animals come within photo distance.
It's a completely different story with the shy meadow waders. I have to properly camouflage myself to get photos and beautiful observations.
But arriving early at the scene is also important. Ideally, I set up the camouflage for a longer period, so the animals get used to it and are not disturbed. If this is not possible, I use lightweight and quickly set-up camouflage gear that I set up long before sunrise.
This way, I have had marvelous experiences.
Even shy greylag geese and grey herons were not disturbed by me, and a snipe even landed so close to my camouflage tent that I had to wait until it was at least just over 4 meters away before I could photograph it. Unfortunately, my 600mm telephoto lens has the wrong close focus limit in this case, and the 100-500mm lens that I also had with me I couldn't use because in changing lenses, I probably would have scared off the snipe...
Since I do all this lying down, a mat is also necessary that provides me with a warm, dry stomach and at least a somewhat cushioned working position. I clearly prefer a foldable cushion to rolled alternatives.
To prevent the horizon from tilting while panning, I also prefer a tripod with a leveling head. Depending on the desired image effect, very low or a little higher in combination with my universal tripod head.
