Three Tips for Photographing Birds

  Three Tips for Photographing Birds

Jesse James was once asked why he robbed banks. His reply, "That's where the money is". This winter, I decided that birds have it figured out by migrating south, so I did likewise by heading to the Gulf Coast. And, while here I am going to be doing a lot of bird photography, because this is where the birds are.  Did you know that there are over 500 species of birds in Florida? No matter where, birds are all around us, you just have to keep our eyes and ears open. 

When it comes to bird photography finding birds is just the beginning. Photographing birds is actually quite easy, but it requires work and practice to capture really good bird photos.  Here are three tips to improve your bird photos:

1.    Understand the habits of birds to put yourself into position for photos. 

Like most wildlife, birds are much more active early in the morning.  Birds feed heavily in the morning after a night at rest. The really good part of this is that soft early morning light can be the most flattering light not just for birds but for all nature photography. Much like planes that take off and land into the wind, large birds will also take off and land into the wind. This knowledge will aid your bird photography. Positioning yourself so that the wind is at your back may result in birds heading right towards you as they take off. So, instead of getting butt shots you get those great flying at you shots. Learn what types of habitats birds prefer. For example, I have a favorite marsh near home that is a magnet for yellow warblers, common yellow-throated warblers and many other birds. In the spring this spot is quite literally full of birds.  

Yellow Warbler

Time of year is important too. As I mentioned, this spot is best in the spring as some of the wood warblers found in my marsh will disperse before summer fully arrives.  There is also a period of time when birds are less visible and they sing a lot less as they are nesting. Some birds sing from favorite trees or shrubs on the edge of their territory. They will frequently return to the same location to patrol their area.

Sparrow

Learning the habits of birds means knowing what foods birds like to eat. One of the black cherry trees in my marsh is a favorite of cedar waxwings and when the fruits ripen it does not take long for a cedar waxwing to appear. Make like a bird watcher, because the best bird watchers could be great bird photographers because they have learned the habits of birds.  

Cedar Waxwing

2.   Try to blend in with your surroundings while minimizing movement and noise   

Try shooting from a blind or even using a car as a blind. But even without a blind, try to blend in with your surroundings by minimizing movement and the amount of noise you make. In some cases camouflage may be needed, but normally just wearing neutral clothing will help.  No bright colors - like hot pink. If you blend in really well, birds will sometimes totally ignore you giving you the chance to capture amazing close up shots of birds as they go about their daily activities. 

3. Use the proper gear including long lenses, tripods, gimbal heads and flash.

My third tip is to use the proper gear for bird photography. Unfortunately this normally requires long-telephoto lenses which can get you closer to the birds. And I might add, it will disturb the birds a lot less. The reason I say that long-telephoto lenses are unfortunate is that they can be very expensive as well as heavy to carry. The good news is that some lens makers such as Tamron and Sigma are starting to make really good lenses that are much cheaper than those made by camera manufacturers Nikon and Canon. If spending thousands upon thousands of dollars is not appealing, adding a tele-extender to a lens is an inexpensive way of getting more reach. There is another way of extending your effective focal length too, read on. 

It is not necessary to use the top of the line cameras, but it helps to have a camera that can shoot at high frame rates (at least 7 frames per second) and show low noise at higher ISOs. Consider using what is known as a crop-sensor camera which has a smaller sensor and gives the effect of cropping to a narrower area, thus mimicking a longer focal length lens. These cameras and the lenses made to fit them are much are less expensive than full-frame cameras and lenses. That sounds good doesn't it.  Less expensive camera and longer effective focal length.  Mirrorless cameras are becoming popular as these are lighter and often have higher frame rates than DSLRs.  One more thing, if I have a choice between spending a lot of money on a lens or on a camera, I would put the money into the good lenses. Good lenses can last a lifetime, but camera technology is changing so fast that what is great today will only be o.k. a few years from now. 

Invest in a good tripod that will hold the weight of a big lens and your camera. This will help you to get super sharp images. No amount of image stablization (Canon) or vibration reduction (Nikon) or other similar systems by other manufacturers which reduce the effects of movement while handholding can match shooting from a good stable tripod.  One other suggestion is to add a gimbal  head to your tripod. This makes handling and supporting a large lens on a tripod so easy that you can move your camera with just a few fingers. Finally, you may want to use to flash to add catch light in the eyes of the birds or to fill in shadows. Flash extenders can also be used to project the flash further away. I do not use flash often, but have made good use of it in special cases. Care must be used though to avoid impacting the birds with a flash.  That is another chapter on ethics that I will cover later as well as other tips on bird photography. I am planning to make an entire pdf guide on bird photography available online in the near future. Until then you can always peruse the bird gallery on my website. If you find these tips useful, please let me know. I would love to hear from other photographers at my e-mail, about your challenges and successes.