Top 10 Bird Photography Tips
Bird Photography
One of the most challenging types of photography, but also most rewarding, is bird photography. There is a sense of pride that is felt whenever you capture an excellent shot of our feathered friends. The problem is that birds are often elusive (not liking human attention), they are often small and can be hard to shoot, and in flight they are very fast.
Photographing birds doesn’t need to be difficult. With the right equipment and techniques you’ll soon be taking photos that everyone will look at and say wow! To get you started here are 10 tips that work.
5 Equipment tips for Bird Photography
To begin with let’s talk about what you’ll need and how to setup your camera for bird photography. Having the right tools will greatly increase your chances of capturing that stunning shot.
1. The Lens (es) - The first thing you will need is a good 300-500mm (f/4) telephoto lens. You shouldn’t expect the birds to come to you, so enabling yourself to shoot from afar is important. You may want to consider a teleconverter to further increase the focal length of your lens when required.
2. A Tripod - When shooting birds in their natural habitat, you will often require a good tripod to help get rid of camera shake.
3. Manual Focus - Most cameras have trouble focusing on a bird in foliage. To compensate you may want to use manual focus when shooting this way. Always try to focus on the bird’s heads, or specifically its eye(s).
4. Raw Mode – Shooting in raw mode will enable you to have more flexibility with the image once you get it back to your PC. You should take all of your bird photographs in raw mode.
5. Custom White Balance – When shooting birds against a green background, even if you’ve focused the shot yourself, you may find the colors off. Use custom white balance on your camera to compensate.
5 Tips to Finding Bird Photography Opportunities
With the right lens, and the right settings, it’s time to photograph some birds. Understanding the birds themselves will be a great help, but without a study on birds, here are some tips to get you started.
1. Time of Year – Birds tend to be most active in the spring time. This is likely the best time of year to get started with your career in bird photography. Later in the year, the birds have either migrated, or are much less active throughout the winter months.
2. Time of Day – In the early morning, you’ll often hear the birds singing, and see them flying about. This is often the best time of day to go on your bird photography expedition.
3. Get to Where the Birds Are – Obviously where the birds are at will depend on what type of bird(s) you are trying to capture. Don’t be adverse to climbing trees, or setting up camo-blinds, to ensure you get shots in the bird’s natural habitat.
4. Feeders – If you don’t want to climb trees, find (or setup) a bird feeder. This is an easy way to bring the birds to you. If you sit quietly you can likely even get some close up shots.
5. Easy Practice – To get practice with birds, go to a place where the birds have acclimated to human presence. A park is a great place to start. Gulls can also make a good practice subject as they tend to be quite fearless when they have found food.
The most important part of getting good is practice. Make bird photography a part of your weekly routine and you’ll soon find your shots improving.
