Originally posted by Mccsiz Rob G you are a pillar of poise. How do you hold so steady?
Honestly I'm not sure! For one thing, I only hold up the lens for the minimum time, because honestly I don't have a huge amount of upper body strength. I've also practiced breathing to try to minimise camera shake. Other than that, I can't really say, other than practice!
I'm generally photographing birds and animals that just happen to be there as I walk around. I'm not staking out nests or favourite perches, and I certainly don't feed the birds to create a shot. I was not really impressed by a number of videos I've seen of photographers setting up a "natural looking" lump of wood with food hidden in it in order to create a fixed location to shoot. These guys were apparently pros, so it seems like it works for them.
Full disclosure - I did feed some birds to get photos back in the '80s on literally a handful of occasions but it's not something I've done for literally decades. I'd love to go back to Green Mountains in Lamington national park with my current gear to get photos of Regent Bowerbirds.
I'm not even sure if they even allow people to feed the parrots there anymore, let alone Bowerbirds, because the birds had become aggressive and fearless.