Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, October 2025 — I have invested in a longer lens, for those situations where the birds are just too far away for my 600mm equivalent lens to provide satisfying images. (Of course, I will never be completely satisfied, and part of me knows this.) The big lens is too heavy for me to use for any length of time “hand-held” so I am experimenting with tripods and monopods…trying to refine my long-telephoto technique before I might need it in Ecuador in December. (And I don’t know that I will need it at all…I have only ever been to one of the places we are going. Still, better to be prepared.) With a cooperative bird like our neighborhood Bluebird, at this kind of distance (about 20 feet), the long lens certainly provides amazing detail, but a shorter lens would provide a satisfying image if you did not compare the two too closely. And by the time you see this image…on your computer, tablet, or phone, you would, most likely, not be able to see much difference at all between the two. Sony a7CR. Tamron 150-500 @ 500mm (cropped to at least 800mm equivalent). Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. And, yes, I am getting the hang of shooting from a solid support. All it takes is practice.