Birdpix.nl :: View topic - FvdM februari: Daniele Occhiato

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Posted: Wed 01 Feb 2012, 0:02 Post subject: FvdM februari: Daniele Occhiato

Short biography
Name: Daniele Occhiato
Birdpix name: Danibabi

Age: Well, on my ID card is reported that I am 43 years old, but my head says I’m only 20 …
Place: I was born in the Calabria region, south Italy. I moved to Florence, Tuscany, with my family when I was a young boy and I still live there with my wife Barbara and my daughters Federica (9 years) and Arianna (6 years).
Profession: I am a nurse for 20 years. I work in a Public Hospital, in the First-aid Unit. I like my job, it's very interesting and of great help for the people, but it's getting harder and more complex to do.. It also gives me plenty of time to photograph.
Other hobbies? I had lot of them during my life, tennis, diving, music, but, especially, painting with watercolours (birds, of course, what else?). Well, you cannot call it a hobby, but I have been also an active ornithologist, I have been secretary of the Italian Rarities Commitee for 5 years. Sometimes I still like to write on bird identification for italian and european magazines.
Used equipment: I started with film gears, more than 20 years ago, with Pentax and Sigma. Soon I moved to Canon when I had the possibility. I have been probably one of the first italian photographer to use digital gears for birds and nature.
Website: www.pbase.com/dophoto This is my first and only web site. I still like it very much because of its simplicity. You can always find what’s new and you have almost all my best images in the archive if you want to buy some of them. Simple and easy. That’s it. I do not like those mega websites with fading effects, music, poetic introductions and so on ... They are usually slow and boring, all smoke in the eyes ... Anyway, I would like to improve a little the main page of my website but I still have not found the right idea ...

Dotterel - Morinelplevier

Interview
Why bird photography?
Because I started birding at 7 years old and I have never stopped... Bird photography has been just a natural progression... It started with the aim to have my rarity records on film, but soon this feeling has grown in something more complex. Now it takes up almost all my free time. And I need it also as a form of relaxation after the stress of daily life. In fact I cannot stay more than two or three days without going out to take some photos... I become nervous. I am a photo-addicted, I suppose!

Snowfinch - Sneeuwvink

What do you like about bird photography?
Well, going out in the wild, of course! I really like to be alone with myself and my thoughts. In fact, I very seldom go to photograph with other people. You cannot make good pictures if you're not alone! Sometimes this is a problem when you are in a hide with other photographers... It is unbelievable how many photographers do not know how to behave inside a photographic hide!
In addition, bird photography allows me to see the best places of a country, those most beautiful and wild, without having to dwell in the classic places for tourists.
Finally, it is always a pleasure to see my photos published and to know that they are appreciated!

Cetti's Warbler - Cetti's Zanger

What are the downsides?
They are four: the first one is the fact that I live in a country where it is impossible to live of nature photography alone. You need another good job! The second one is also an economic factor: going around photographing is very expensive, especially if you do so in a big country like Italy, with a high fuel price. And the global economic crisis is not an help either... (but the advantage is that you can visit countries that are getting cheaper because of the same crisis). The third one is the growing number of poorly trained birders and photographers which cause disturbance both to animals and other photographers. The last one, is the increased time that you need to stay in front of a computer for the post-processing and storage of the photos.

Coot - Meerkoet

What is your specialty?
Well, I like portraits more than action shots. I think this is due to my birder soul ... Because of this, I like to go abroad trying to take pictures of rarely photographed species as good as I can. I particularly love to take pictures of little birds like the passerines, which are usually more difficult to find and photograph than the bigger ones.

Garganey - Zomertaling

What characterizes your pictures?
Well, perhaps cleanliness of the image, good composition and right light? At least, this is what I try to find before to take a picture! You cannot even imagine how many photographers push the shutter button of the camera only because the bird is right there, just in front of their lenses ... I do not even “think” to shoot if light, composition and background are not “sufficiently” good. But I know that you need many years of experience to learn how to imagine a photo before it's taken...
About my post-processing, lot of people regularly ask me how I can get pictures so crisp and clean after the downsizing for the web ... Well, I must admit that while half of what I know about post-processing I have learnt by reading books and websites, the other half is the fruit of self-made “experiments”. This workflow, anyway, is never the same ... it is continuously improved with new findings. There are so many helps and tutorials to be found on internet about post-processing, as on photographic websites, fora and so on. You only need to find them!
Anyway, at moment I use Neat Image as a software to unsharp the images at 800 px and only then I apply the sharpen before to save for the web. All the people who read or hear this, do not usually believe their own ears ... In fact, I have found that blurring a little the hard edges of the whole body plumage of the bird will result in a better sharpness of the final image. Anyway, it is a very difficult workflow, because you need to know exactly all the settings to be applied, since they often change depending on the single image (plumage colour, its complexity and texture, ISO setting and so on).

Great Reed Warbler - Grote Karekiet

How do you make your pictures?
Well, about 70 per cent of my pictures are taken from a hide, I guess ... And half of them from the car used as a hide (partially covered with a net). I do not walk too much for photography, because of the weight of the gear and because the birds are far less approachable on foot (at least in Italy!). When I am abroad I usually walk a little more. A four-wheel drive is essential for serious bird photography in my opinion, but you must be very careful not to get yourself into trouble because you give too much trust to your car!

Green Woodpecker - Groene Specht

How do you avoid disturbing the birds while you take pictures?
Well, since the greater part of my pictures are taken from hides, I do not usually cause any particular disturbance to the birds. An experienced photographer perfectly knows the birds that can be approached by foot, their flying distance and their signs of nervousness but, of course, you cannot avoid disturbance while photographing by foot... You only have to remember that bird photography is only a “game” and you can survive without it; respect for animals and nature conservation are the most important things.

Greenfinch - Groenling

When and why did you start with photography?
As stated above, I started when I was about 20 years old, around 1988, because I just wanted to take pictures of the rare birds I found, but I soon expanded the range and started taking pictures a bit 'of everything: birds of course, but also mammals, reptiles, anphibians, insects, landscapes and, especially, mushrooms. After some time, however, I realized that I couldn't have been a good photographer in that way ... too much interests, too much things to photograph! ... and, having being always a birder and ornithologist, I realized that bird photography was my way. Anyway, I made the jump into “real” photography only on 2002 when I bought my first professional equipment, a Canon EOS 3 with a 300 f2.8 USM. After just a couple of years I improved my equipment with my beloved Canon 500 f/4 IS USM (which I still consider the best lens for bird photography) soon followed by my first digital reflex and I opened my actual website. Now my list of photographic equipment is much longer and ... we are here now.

Greenshank - Groenpootruiter

Which nature reserves in Italy can you recommend to Dutch bird photographers?
Well, there are many ... Gran Paradiso NP and Abbruzzi NP for mammals and birds, the fields around Massaciuccoli lake and Bientina lakes on Tuscany, Linosa and Pantelleria Islands for migratory and rare birds, Isola della Cona reserve in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region for water birds and geese, the whole of Sardinia, the whole of Po Delta, Torrile reserve on Emila-Romagna region for water birds, just to name a few ...

You seem to travel a lot. How do you prepare yourself for trips abroad?
Since I am still a birder, I usually choose a country on the basis of the birds that I want to see rather than to photograph. Then I try to find as much informations as possible on that country on internet and by books. Then I plan the trip, but I do not usually book any accomodations, I only make a car reservation, this because I usually stay on a place until I have found and photographed all the wanted species (time permitting, of course). To make an example, on my last trip to Turkey, Green Warbler was one of my main targets. Well, I spent a whole day and half only for that species until I found a cooperative bird ... and only then I left looking for another bird.

Little Egret - Kleine Zilverreiger

What is your favorite species?
I love passerines more than other kind of birds, and especially so Sylvia and Phylloscopus Warblers, Larks, Wheatears and Buntings. I can say that the more they are skulking, the more I like them ... My favourite bird ever is the Pine Bunting, a species to which I am particularly fond of because I have studied its wintering population in Tuscany for 10 years. Anyway, also Seabirds, Gulls and Waders are among my favourite birds.

Is there something you really like to do, e.g. a picture you like to take?
Yes, I would like to see and photograph as many western palearctic species as possible (I am the italian top lister at moment), I would like to take good pictures of some storm-petrels (my real “pets hate”) and I would like to take some really close and good pictures of some raptors such Bonelli’s Eagle, Lammergeier, Goshawk or Golden Eagle without using live animals tied for a leg or killed for this purpose, which has recently become fashionable even among good and respected photographers ...

Melodious Warbler - Orpheusspotvogel

Which photographer is of inspiration to you? Why so?
Well, I must admit that, regarding my “style”, I have never had inspiration from any bird photographer, but I learnt much on how to take pictures of animals, the use of the light and the composition, from the US photographers Joe McDonald and Arthur Morris (but I do not like latter’s approach to post-processing, too strong!). I also find that the american Robert Royse is the photographer whose style is closer to mine.

Do you also do other forms of photography besides bird photography?
Not anymore. Now I concentrate mainly on birds. Of course, I take also photos of mammals, reptiles and so on if I have the opportunity, but they are never my prime targets.

Red-breasted Merganser - Middelste Zaagbek

How do you like Birdpix?
I love Birdpix, I find that it is one of the best websites around and, currently, it is also the only one where I sometimes post some of my photos. It’s simple and clear, and it has also a good graphic. The main downside is that it is still too much on the dutch side. For example, the forum is still only in dutch. I think that a whole website in english (with two separate forums, one in english and one still in dutch) would make it the best in Europe and certainly among the best in the world. And the same we can say about Birdpix Book, it should be better in double language.

Reed Bunting - Rietgors

Do you have a suggestion for other photographers?
Only one, which, incidentally, is what I usually give: try to study as much bird photos as possible to understand why a photo is good and why yours is not! ... and always listen to the advices of the more experienced!

Best picture

Why is this your best picture?
I do not really think that this is my best picture (In fact, I would have a lot to choose from) but it is certainly one of the most renowed.

How was it taken?
I think this photo is particularly successful and is a typical example of photos “conceived and achieved”. I well knew the habit of the Goldcrest to be attracted by the “pishing” so I was always looking for a colorful bush full of berries in order to take such kind of picture. When, at last, I have found what I supposed to be the right one in the right place (where there were usually plenty of Goldcrests) I suddenly started to do some “pishing”. In just a few minutes, about ten birds were into the bush. I took as many pictures as possible, trying to hold the bird in the centre of the frame. I was lucky because in the best shots the bird had also assumed a posture similar to the rounded shape of the surrounding berries! That’s it.

Do you see possibilities for improvement?
Well, maybe with a little more berries on the right side of the birds, the picture could have been more complete… But I think that it is almost perfect.

Robin - Roodborst

Who would you like to be the next photographer of the month? And why do you name him/her?
Rudi Debruyne. He has a similar approach to bird photography as mine. I like his work very much.

Zitting Cisticola - Graszanger

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