3 Birds during the Reunion of the 3 Birdnuts of Cebu

[Nilo Arribas Jr.]

Hello Friends,

I've been out or travelling most of the time and was not able to bird in Cebu with my friends for sometime. In a short notice, three (3) of the six (6) Birdnuts of Cebu; Bobby K., Tateo O. and me converged in a shaded portion of the ponds as if to renew the old birding vow or drawn by the common desire for a birding fix.

It was also timely as I transitioned to the newly released Canon EOS 80D.

I've been using my Canon EOS 40D for almost 10 years now. Needless to say the technology have made photography a lot easier now that I dreaded the thought of the camera producing good photos than what the photographer have in mind. Because of this, I opted to shot in manual just to be sure

Anyway, coming from Canon EOS 40D, these are some of the features that warrants some testing for me:

1. Micro-Focus Adjustment (MFA)
2. The Canon 80D have 45 focus points (all cross type) vs 40D's 9
3. Cropping potential 24MP vs 10MP

These photos were taken around noontime under extreme lighting conditions. Despite the less than ideal shooting condition, I am happy to say that the 80D delivered as expected. I'm sure there are still a lot to learn for me and a good reason to bird with old friends in the field.


Jugan Fishponds,
Cebu, Central Philippines
04/24/16
Note: All photos were taken in mid-day lighting and extremely cropped.


White-headed Stilt
Canon 80D, 600mm, f/4.0, 1/1600Sec, ISO-400, Tripod



Javan Pond Heron
Canon 80D, 600mm, f/5.0, 1/2500Sec, ISO-400, Tripod



Barn Swallow
Canon 80D, 600mm, f/5.0, 1/1600Sec, ISO-400, Tripod

[Tateo Osawa]

All nice BIF shot, Nilo. we taken photo around noon time but color and sharpness are very nice. Congrats 80D. Let's go again !!

[Nilo Arribas Jr.]

Thank you Tateo-san. Yes will do this again and maybe stay a bit longer in the area... perhaps a good brewed coffee will keep our eyes open for the occasional surprises

[Bobby Kintanar]

Wow, BIF all the way! Hehehe. Seems like the AF of the 80D is really working for you my friend! Congrats! :-)

[Romy Ocon]

Killer BIFs, Nilo! Love the buttery smooth "sapin-sapin" background of the first image. Looks like your new toy works very well with the 600 f4.

I hope we can do a reunion at Olango with the Cebu gang on the next migration season.

[Nilo Arribas Jr.]

Apr 27, 2016 23:23:38 GMT Bobby Kintanar said:

Wow, BIF all the way! Hehehe. Seems like the AF of the 80D is really working for you my friend! Congrats! :-)

Thank you Sir Bobby. I'm sure there are a lot of things to learn and try to this new toy Also there's a lot of reason to do something different... we'll discuss this in our sorties...

[Nilo Arribas Jr.]

Apr 28, 2016 10:58:57 GMT Romy Ocon said:

Killer BIFs, Nilo! Love the buttery smooth "sapin-sapin" background of the first image. Looks like your new toy works very well with the 600 f4.

I hope we can do a reunion at Olango with the Cebu gang on the next migration season.

Hi Romy,
I was thinking of the "sapin-sapin" BG as similar to the Cababa landscape as I remember it many years ago during the BIF sessions with you. This time the mini-island in Jugan in the middle provided the added layer. Just luck I guess and like what we always say... the more you do it, the luckier you will be in the field

Looking forward to the reunion with the Cebu Birdnuts in Olango and in other areas as well.