How to Take Good Pictures of Birds

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4 April 2010

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One of the most popular areas of animal photography is bird photography. Taking perfect wild bird pictures can be tricky, but you can create some great photo opportunities right in your own backyard.

Setting up your Backyard Photo Shoots

The biggest challenge isn't actually attracting birds to your yard. Once feeders are out and discovered, word will get around fast! The biggest challenge with bird photography 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 won't make the birds easy prey for cats and other predators, and at the same time that will provide you with the opportunity to photograph them with nice backgrounds and good angles.

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 constantly moving? They are always moving no matter if they're foraging on the ground or sitting on a tree branch. The best setting for bird photography will be a high shutter speed, so use 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. When using a high range zoom, you should also consider using a tripod or other camera stabilizer.

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.

Large telephoto lenses of this size are very expensive, but there is another way to take bird photos far away. 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 often that hour after dawn. Also, look for patterns when you may have flocks of birds that fly over your yard at certain times of day. Or, if you're looking to take pictures of birds of prey like osprey, go to a lake or river early in the morning or 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 attract more birds to your yard and be able to capture some great bird photos that you'll be proud to display.