CameraCrazy

Bird photography can be a very peaceful serene experience, with the birds chirping, the warm morning sun radiating and enhancing there plumage and all types of behavior from birds in flight, fishing, or perching. However, as nice as that picture seems, bird photography can also be the most irritating, frustrating time as well when birds are quiet and hiding, birds don’t show up or they just won’t do what you’re hoping they would have.

In my early attempts at shooting birds (figuratively!) the latter experience tended to happen more. Recently, I have begun changing my views and following a more relaxed view of photographing birds by not really caring about what shows up but just shooting what ever comes along. My thoughts now are that birds no matter what type are amazing creatures and completely worthy of my time in learning about them. I think one of the biggest problems I had with photographing birds was that the majority of my shots the bird was barely even noticeable and made up about 5% of the total photo. Now although it seems logical if your main subject is a bird you’re likely going to want to use a good telephoto lens. I was using my 70-300 mm zoom full-out and still not getting subjects in the frame. It never really occurred to me before but a lot of birds are incredibly small. Now if you’re lucky enough to have a 1000 mm lens to use all the more power to you, however I imagine the majority of readers are in the same situation as me, with a couple of lenses with the maximum focal length of about 200 to 300 mm. In our case you can still get great bird photographs but it requires a little more thought and work. One of the first things to figure out is what type of bird you want to photograph, because different birds are different sizes. If you decide to go take pictures of herons, geese or swans, then you’re likely able to use your 200 mm lens more effectively and fill the frame than photographing a hummingbird or warbler.

When I want to go and do some bird photography I first ask myself the question, do I want to just get some good bird pictures (i.e. I don’t really care too much about the species of bird) or do I want to specifically photograph a certain species. The first option allows you a wide variety of options, where as specific birds, although may have been chosen because of its bright colorful plumage, may be much tougher to locate. If I decide on the first option, then I consult my field book and look up the general habitats of bird types. For example, swans and ducks tend to hang out in calm waters and open waters in the winter, where raptors can be easily found perching on fence, poles and large trees. If I decide I really want to photograph a specific bird, then it requires me learning about the birds, such as migration patterns, habitats, when they’re most active etc. In addition to consulting a field guide, I would also suggest consulting a birding website or group. Birders are notoriously good at posting locations of migrating and rare birds. These sites will often not report on common birds, but can be a great help if the bird your looking for is rare or expected to migrate soon.

Your best chance at good bird photos is to play the odds, try and find a place where there are a flock of birds, this may be tough if you’re photographing raptors, since they tend to be fairly solitary, but for other birds, the more that are hanging around your location, the better chance you have of capturing the birds doing what you hoped they would. Now before you get excited and pull out your camera and start taking photos, take a few minutes to assess the area and let the birds get used to you. As with most wildlife they will often see you as a threat and avoid you, the longer you wait the more habituated the birds will become and not fly away so fast. The other thing you should be assessing is that your in there territory and you should respect there area so PLEASE respect the area, don’t go tromping through the bush trying to get to a bird, a lot of birds make there nests on the ground or on branches low to the ground, if you start cutting through brush you’re very likely going to disturb multiple nests and very likely destroy eggs and the surrounding habitat. So what are you to do if birds are far away, honestly, be patient, birds often patrol territories, if you wait a little bit its likely that a few of them will head your way.

Another option is that if you really really don’t care about the type of bird you’re photographing, then head down to a city park. Sure there is a lot of seagulls and pigeons, but they are very habituated and you can usually get within about 2 feet of them and some great close up shots. You can also get great shots in flight. If you want to photograph small birds, one great way is to go near bird feeders. You can often get close to them and they continuously move to nearby trees so you’re not forced to include the feeder in your photos.