The following bird photography tips will help you take sharp and focused images, use correct exposure, and give you tips on where to find birds. Bird photography can be very challenging if you’ve never had experience in this photo genre. Bird photography is a specialized area that requires specific equipment and skills.
Equipment Needed
Photo by Ed Sweeney
When first beginning in bird photography, you’ll want to have at least a telephoto lens as well as a tripod. Your telephoto lens should have a focal length of around 300mm or more. The longer the focal length, the farther you can be from birds when photographing them.
Another useful piece of equipment is some sort of camouflage. Many professional photographers use camouflage to get closer to birds or other wild animals in nature.
Finding the Birds
So you have all the basic equipment…the next step is actually finding birds to photograph!
Birds and Spring Time
Photo by Tambako
Spring season is one of the best times to go out and take bird photographs. During late spring you’ll even get the chance to photograph adult birds caring for their offspring.
Sunrise
Birds tend to be most active during the first few hours after sunrise. This is the most ideal time to find birds to photograph. Another added benefit to this time of day is that the sunlight won’t be fully powerful and provide quality lighting.
A couple hours before sunset is also a great time to photograph birds.
Best Locations
Woodland expanses, areas with many trees, local parks, nature reserves, and places with natural fruit/vegetation are great for finding birds. In general, the more natural the location the more likely you’ll find a wide variety of birds. Coastal regions are also great as many birds are attracted to the seafood.
Approach Slowly and Alone
Finding and photographing birds are completely different! It is important when you find birds to stay low and approach them slowly to get closer.
Photo by Richard Taylor
It is also important that you do not seem like a threat to the birds. The best way to do this is to go alone. Birds are pretty good at observing body language and while you may be approaching fine, your partner may not.
Bird Photography Techniques
Use the Proper Head Angle
Photo by Tambako
Just because a bird is close does not mean you have a good picture. Pay close attention to the angle of the birds head. If the bird is facing away from the camera, try waiting till they face towards the camera.
Find trees with fewer leaves
Photo by Louis Docker
Trees with many leaves make bird photography more difficult as the leaves block your vision and make it harder to find birds. Birds in trees with less leaves are much easier to photograph.
Focus on the Birds Eyes
Photo by DeusXFlorida
Be sure that you clearly focus the birds eyes in your photos.
Flying birds
Photographing flying birds poses many difficulties in focusing and exposure. You’ll want to make sure you use a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 and some sort of focusing mechanism. Using single AF points and allowing your camera to track them will work great if the background is simple.
Photo by Dario Sanches
Photo by Ed Schipul
Flying birds with the sky as the background will often need to birds behind sky will require dialing a couple more stops to compensate for the bright sky
Continuous shooting is a must if you’re photographing moving birds. Often times you’ll end up with only a few good photos for every hundred. A great way to start with flying birds is to practice with larger birds like pelicans.
Using Correct Settings
Photo by Dani_vr
Photo by Steve Garvie
There are a wide variety of settings you should use depending on what the bird is doing. If you’re photographing a bird in a tree, pre-focusing on the branch and using manual focus is often the way to go. When birds are in flight, going completely manual is recommended.
For birds that aren’t in flight, aperture priority is great as it allows you to control the depth of field, which should be shallow.
Master Your Backyard First
Before venturing out into the wild to photograph birds, a great idea is to first photograph the birds in your very backyard. If you can’t successfully photograph birds in your back yard how will you do it in the wild? Check out this post for tips on photographing garden birds.
Be Patient
Photo by Pedro Szekely
Often times bird photographers will wait for hours for a perfect shot. Bird photography requires a great deal of patience, research, and love. There will be times when you will be disappointed. Having a love for photography and birds/nature is a must if you want to take professional bird photos.
Be Respectful
When photographing nature, having ethics is a must.
- Do not disturb the birds
- Do not cause the birds stress
- Do not alter the birds habitat
- Do not feed wild birds in nature
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