One of the most popular areas of animal photography is bird photography. Taking perfect pictures of birds in the wild can be very challenging, but you can create many wonderful photo opportunities in your own backyard.
Setting up your Backyard Photo Shoots
The biggest challenge with bird photography isn't actually attracting birds to your yard. Once feeders are out and discovered, word will get around fast! The biggest challenge is getting the birds to perch where you want them. So before setting up your feeding stations and birdbaths, consider the locations carefully.
Choose locations that have nice backgrounds and good angles and won't make the birds easy targets for predators.
Remember that if you set feeders out in the winter only give them quality seed so your feathery friends aren't filling up on food (like bread) that won't provide them the energy needed to keep warm at night.
Birdbaths also make great places for photos and help encourage birds to visit your yard regularly.
If your goal is to attract certain species of birds, check with The Audubon Society to see what types of seeds or plants (in the case of birds that won't take their meals at feeders) are best. You can also find good tips at the National Wildlife Federation's “Gardening for Wildlife” pages.
You also don't want to limit your bird photos to just bird feeders and baths. You can also take pictures of birds in your yard that perch on tree limbs and fences nearby so make sure to look for these areas too.
How to Set Your Camera for Bird Photos
Have you ever noticed that birds are in almost constant motion? They are always moving no matter if they're foraging on the ground or sitting on a tree branch. With so much movement you want a higher shutter speed for bird photos, so use the Sports mode or set your shutter speed to at least 1/250.
If you have an optical zoom on your compact digital or have a telephoto lens on your SLR, this will make taking bird photos a lot easier. An optical zoom of 6x, depending on the camera, can give you about the same magnification as a 200mm lens, meaning a photograph taken from about 10 feet away could look like a close up.
Some of the so called “bridge cameras” offer zooms from 10 to 20 feet, but not all produce quality results so check around before purchasing. You may also need a tripod or other camera stabilizer when using the high range zooms, and as always, opt for optical.
Given a long enough lens, you can get some wonderful pictures of birds in flight or perched high up in trees too. Professional nature photographers often use a 600 lens to get photos with good detail.
Telephoto lenses of this size are very expensive, but there is another way, brought to us from birders. It's called digiscoping. Digiscoping is where you combine the birder's spotting scope with a digital camera. Here is one of many good articles online introducing the digiscoping method to bird photographers: Birdwatchers Digest: Photography.
Blue skies are best for pictures of birds in flight. And the bluest sky of the day is usually the hour after dawn. Also, look for times of the day when you have flocks of birds around your house or flying over. Or, if you want to photograph birds of prey, such as osprey, go to a lake or river early in the evening when they fish. This is also a good time for soft, even and warm lighting.
And once you get a great bird picture, don't forget to share it and display it in a quality picture frame. Although there is a huge selection of frames available, you should choose a frame that has simple, clean lines like a thin metal picture frame or a natural wood picture frame as it won't compete with your photograph.
Hopefully by using these tips, you'll not only attract more birds to your yard for more bird photo opportunities but capture some fantastic pictures that you'll be proud to display.
Tags: bird photography, birds photography, how to photograph birds, wild bird photography