Bird Photography Tips

Bird Photography: Click on Photo

Improvements in digital camera technology allows all birders the opportunity to enhance their day lists, season lists and life lists with pictures.

Today's market offers a variety of point and shoot or single lens reflex (SLR) models capable of capturing splendid bird images.

Regardless of the brand choice, in most instances, the best camera models for birders incorporate image stabilization technology and extended focal length capability.

Having a camera technologically capable of capturing the image of nearby bird species accounts for approximately one-third the task. The remaining two-thirds of bird photography focuses on technical and creative issues.

On the creative side, lighting situations anchor all photography activities. Think of bird photography as the art and science of drawing birds using light.

Lighting conditions ultimately determine a cardinal's shade of red or a bluebird's shade of blue in the picture at hand. To get the clearest, most colorful bird pictures, think sun.

Proper lighting highlights both the color and detail of any bird. Generally speaking, morning and late afternoon sunshine provides the best lighting conditions because the lower lighting angles bring out the best color and contrast in bird feathers.

Experimenting with camera setting such as shutter speed and aperture also introduce technical detail into bird photography.

As a rule of thumb, faster shutter speeds (in the 1/1000 setting range) are sufficient for capturing birds in flight. Longer shutter speeds in the 1/600 range and below, would be sufficient for capturing images of perching birds.

In suboptimal lighting conditions, such as those where birds prefer shade to sun or, equally as common, overcast days, the use of the flash can provide a small light contribution for enhancing the photograph's clarity.

Having the technical capacity to photograph birds only works in the presence of birds.

Think bird blinds when seeking birds. For photography purposes, birds divide into the relatively more skittish and relatively less skittish varieties. The degree of skittishness usually translates into the distance you can get to a bird prior to its flying off.

Any natural object that helps obscure a bird's view of the photographer increases the odds of capturing a winning image.

Different species of birds tend to hang out or feed in different landscapes at different times of the day. Knowing a bird's living and eating habits helps the photographer get situated in a bird's blind spots during optimal lighting conditions.

Natural blinds come in as many shapes and forms as there are natural objects in a typical backyard. Any tree, bush or stump that effectively hides a photographer from the bird's eye view will do.