Bird Photographer of the Year Georgina Steytler OM magazine

INTERVIEW
BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
OM | ISSUE 001 | JAN-MAR 2021

Photographer bio
A flying
Portfolio Prize Winner of the 2020 Bird
Photographer of the Year, Georgina Steytler
from Albany in Western Australia talks us
through why her OM-D E-M1 Mark III makes
the perfect partner for wildlife photography,
and how she captures some of these
stunning shots
success
Country: Australia
Speciality: Birds
georginasteytler.com.au
I
am a self-taught
photographer and have
always loved photography,
but only started taking pictures of
birds more seriously around ten years
ago after quitting my corporate
career and becoming a volunteer for
BirdLife Western Australia. The
organisation needed images so I set
out trying to get good ID photos of
different bird species. Over time my
bird photography evolved into
something more artistic and less
literal, although I do still take ID
images for use by conservation
organisations across Australia, too.
I first came across the Bird
Photographer of the Year photo
competition several years ago when
I found the first collection in my
local bookstore. I was immediately
blown away by the standard of the
bird images which were the best I
had ever seen. I entered every year
since and admired the winners from
afar, so to actually win the portfolio
prize myself was an absolute dream
come true; plus I was ecstatic to win
an OM-D E-M1 Mark III with M.Zuiko
300mm F4.0 IS PRO.
My first thought when I received
the kit – besides being like a kid in
a candy store – was that it was so
small and light! The camera was
smaller than its manual! Together
with the lens, it was the perfect size
to put in a casual backpack and
take anywhere. Coming from Canon
gear, this weight difference was
incredible to me. Getting my hands
on this new system was also perfect
timing, as I had been wanting a
mirrorless system to try for many
years. I could see that it’s where
the future is heading and the E-M1
Mark III had all of the features I
wanted, such as its light weight, incamera image stabilisation (great for
handheld video), Pro Capture Mode,
and in-camera focus stacking. I’ve
also got the MC-14 Teleconverter
(1) OM-D E-M1 Mark III | M.Zuiko 300mm
F4.0 MC-14
1/4000sec | F6.3 | ISO 2000
1
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