Pixiq

As my photo tour group traveled over the brutal roads in Ethiopia to the tribal villages, there were many instances when we had the opportunity to shoot some of the stunning birds that inhabit this area of Africa, such as the red cheeked cordon-bleu, below.

I wish I had brought my 500mm f/4 telephoto to Ethiopia, but I was so focused on shooting tribal portraits that I didn't think about the avian opportunities.  I only had a 300mm f/2.8 lens with me plus a 1.4x teleconverter totalling 420mm of focal length.  This did enable me to capture many wonderful images, however, but my local guide -- a serious bird photographer -- loaned me his 600mm monster lens a few times.  With this lens, I photographed the beautiful carmen bee eater, below, along with my 1.4x converter. 

Using this lens taught me something.  I don't want to own it.  It's just too heavy and too burdensome.  Instead, I now want to get Canon's 800mm.  It's smaller, lighter, and even though it's an f/5.6 lens, it's much easier to manage in the field as well as dealing with international air travel. For a serious birder, I think it would be the best lens to use, especially when shooting smaller species.  I photographed the  woodland kingfisher, below, with my 420mm capability, and this image is cropped -- something I don't like to do -- because it was just not close enough to get a frame-filling shot.  The 800mm lens would have been ideal here.

If  you happen to have some fish, you become the birds' best friend.  At one lake we visited, some African boys were throwing fish at maribou storks, sacred ibis, pelicans, and other species, and in this instance I was able to get tight shots with my 200mm!  The sacred ibis in the tree was only about 25 feet from me.  This is not cropped at all -- it's exactly as I shot it.