Henrique Oliveira Pires, PhD, lives in Lisbon, Portugal and is professionally a meteorologist and a professor of Physics specialized in ocean waves and in climatology. He learned the basics of photography as a young kid at a time when the cameras had to be set manually. He is, for a longtime, an enthusiast bird observer and photographer. Both he and his wife Luisa Viana spend most of their spare time observing and photographing wild birds in Portugal. Now both partly retired, their free time and the opportunities for bird photography have considerably increased.
They try to conciliate the documental and the aesthetical or artistic sides of bird photography. The pleasure of observation and contact with nature and the possibility of sharing it with other people is an important part of their motivation.
Many of the bird photos have been made from the windows of a four wheel drive car used as a moving or stationary blind, mostly off-road. However other techniques have also been used, from stalking on foot, to infra-red beam controlled shutter release.
The present basic photographic equipment is the following.
Cameras: Canon EOS 1RS, Canon EOS 10D, Canon EOS 50E.
Lenses: Canon 100-400 mm IS, 70-300 mm IS and 28-80 mm zooms; Canon 50 mm macro; Sigma 17-35 mm zoom. Canon teleconverters 1.4x and 2x.
Flashes: Canon 550EX and 420EX; Speed light transmitter. Remote control.
Bogen monopod, tripods and heads.
The new Canon 1D MkII is at the top of the wish-list.
