Wildlife photography is something that has always fascinated me – especially bird photography – but it has always been something that has been beyond my reach. After being stuck with my little Fujifilm FinePix compact camera for 8 years, getting more and more frustrated with its lacklustre zoom and slow shutter speed, I finally took the plunge. Last month I treated myself to my first DSLR – the Nikon D7200. It only took me a few days of devouring some instructional books and BIF blogs to learn how to shoot wildlife in full manual mode, and before I knew it I was going for long walks on almost every day I had off work.

I am fortunate that I live so close to so many beautiful areas for spotting wildlife, from nature reserves to lakes to forests to countryside. It’s rare when I don’t spend more than 3 hours exploring and trying to spot as many species of bird as I can – I feel like a child again!

One of the main advantages of having my own DSLR now is the ability to take my own reference photos – be it for pet portraits of local pets or wildlife and zoo animals. I am so excited!

For now here’s a little snippet of what I’ve been up to on my days off – My photography is gradually improving but I still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to BIF (birds in flight). I will be starting to go to the local photography group sessions soon to try to learn as much as I can! What an unexpectedly addictive hobby!