About me

My name is David Moran i was born in the great County of Lancashire in the UK and I was brought up in the county of Kent. I lived in Singapore from October 2010 to June 2012. I am now based back in Kent. I use Canon cameras and lenses.

I bought my first SLR in 1974, it was a fully manual Russian made second hand camera and cost about five pounds. Since then I have had various SLR film cameras (which i still have) until i bought my first DSLR camera in 2007 a Canon 400D. I have a collection of thousands of pictures taken with my old film cameras from all over the world. I moved to Singapore in late 2010. I have always been a keen ornithologist since i was a boy.

My Equipment

Since I have always been a keen birder and i was pleasantly surprised at the diversity and colours of the birds that i was seeing in Singapore. I wanted to photograph them. I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my Canon 400D and kit lenses, so i purchased a Canon 60D and 400mm f 5.6 prime lens to try and photograph Singapore's birds. I was hooked. I have since upgraded and use a Canon 7D and 1D MK IV for my Bird shots. I have a 300mm f 2.8 which i use with the 1.4 teleconverter. I use a 5D MKII for my landscapes and other work. I still use my 400mm f5.6 lens. I have a Gitzo tripod with Wimberley Gimbal Head and a Sirui Ball Head.

My other Lenses:
100mm f2.8 Macro
24-105mm f4 Zoom
17-40mm f4 Zoom
50mm f1.8 Prime
oh and a Sigma 8-16 fun lens (my only non canon lens)
(500/600 f4 awaiting funds)

My Bird Photography Development

As i said before i have always had an SLR so i knew my way around a camera. A film camera yes a DSLR no.
My Bird Photography has rapidly developed from my first poor attempts back in 2010. When i first started i didnt really have a good enough understanding of the complexities of photography and DSLR cameras let alone how to photograph birds. So i first enrolled on a photography course at the Canon Imaging Center in Singapore. Previously i had tried to learn everthing myself without any advice from others. This course was enlightening for me i was getting answers to problems that i had struggled with for years. I was making progress. The course tutor was a David Lawrence Lim his website address http://www.davidlawrencelim.smugmug.com/ . There are some great shots and techniques there.

I subsequently met many Bird photographers in Singapore who were always helpful in giving me advice on where to find birds and also more importantly great little tips on camera and lens use in the field. I constantly reffered to the website Tutorials given by a great British Bird Photographer Mike Atkinson. His advice has been a considerable help to me in developing my skills and understanding of both cameras, lenses and the art of Bird Photography. His website link http://www.mikeatkinson.net . I have been out shooting In Singapore usually 3-4 days a week but sometimes more!, during my travels it was every day.

The Computer

I have been using DPP and Lightroom to organize and process my pictures. This new skill has been very challenging for me as previously with my film camera i did no processing and gave all my pictures for my wife to organize in albums. I must have between 50-75 albums now spanning nearly 40 years. I am still learning the processing in RAW but im geting there. I am tempted to try Photoshop but i am overwhelmed with even Elements so i need to learn a lot more with this software. However i do not like to do much to my Bird Photographs appart from tweaking the WB, colour, lighting, sharpening and some croping.

Singapore

While photographing Birds in Singapore i have met dozens if not scores of other Bird Photographers. I have spent many hours with them as i suffered in the the unbearable heat that pervades Singapore. Sometimes waiting and waiting and waiting then a rush of shutters then silence as the bird disapears. Sometimes chatting about Birds, cameras, lenses, locations, tripods, shutter speeds, preffered apeture etc etc and occasionally missing the bird that we went there to get!. And me always with my flask of tea at hand. They were all very friendly and have been a great help to me in advising me of locations and many many camera tips as i stated above.

I would just like to point out a few photographers where you/we can view some of their photographs. I include these photographers as i think they are exceptional. They all have their own way of shooting, processing and styles. The first person i would like to mention Is Ken Goh. One of the first Bird Photographers that i met and an exceptional talent in Singapore and the king of Bokeh!. His flickr website address here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kengoh8888
Another talent from Singapore that i met one day at Frasers Hill in Malaysia is Harprit his website here http://stibbs.smugmug.com/

Singapore Locations
I shot most of my birds at the following locations: Japanese and Chinese Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Sungi Buleh Wetland Reserve, Pasir RIs Park, Central Cathment Area, Lower Pierce Resevoir, Pulau Ubin, Hort Park, Mount Faber Park, Mount Vernon, Labrador Park, Kranji Park and Nature Trail, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Bukit Batok Nature Park, Lorong Halus, and one shot i managed at the Condominium that i was living in.

My Photographs are generally of Singapore's common birds as i found it very difficult to have the strength, energy perserverance and heat tolerance that some of my fellow photograpers posessed. I did stake out the elusive Mangrove Pitta in the Mangrove swamp at Pasir Ris a number of times but he didnt show. I did however manage to get a few of Singapore's gems namely the Blue Eared Kingfisher and a reasonable shot of a Red Crowned Barbet. How i suffered geting the Barbet shot. It took 3/4 days to get over all the mosquito bites and the water loss. But i got the shot so it was worth it in the end. The Blue Eared was much more accomodating this year. Last year i met people who had been waiting in the Rainforest from 7.00am (i arrived at 2.00pm) until mid afternoon. I could manage maybe an hour in that humidity, i of course failed to get the shot then. What a cute little blue critter he is though (female is a bit duller)

Singapore has a delightful abundance of the White Bellied Sea Eagle the largest Eagle in Singapore. They can be see almost everywhere gliding above the blocks of appartments and high in the sky over the resevoirs. I have been siting in my living room on the 13th floor and seen one glide past!. Their favoured locations however are around the coast and I did manage to get some good flight shots of this majestic Eagle.

Malaysia, Japan, India and Australia

During my Stay in Singapore i had the opportunity to travel, so i always took my gear with me. I managed to photograph Birds in Malaysia (Frasers Hill), India (Mumbai and Bangalore) Japan (Kakegawa and Tokyo) and in Australia (Blue Mountains and Sydney).

Whiile staying in Frasers Hill Malaysia i met a really interesting guy 'Riz' who said his aim was to see all of Malaysia's birds and to document them in his own way. His is a great site about the birds of Malaysia and his quest and his experience of finding, photographing and documenting the Birds of His Life. His website link http://www.birdsofmylife.blogspot.com/

I have now returned to the UK and look forward to photographing some British Birds!

David Moran June 2012.



In addition I have also always enjoyed photographing the Built and Natural Environmet so i have included some of my travel, landscapes and HDR images.

I appreciate your visit and hope you enjoy looking at my photographs. All my photographs on my site have been taken since March 2011. There have been over 50,000 photo views since I started my site in August 2011. I hope you can take the time to leave a message in my guestbook.

If you would like to use any of my images please contact me. All images Copyright David Moran 2011-2013

You can contact me by sending me an E mail by clicking the E mail icon in my bio at the bottom of my Homepage.