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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Bird photopgraphy
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 04/24/2005 01:45:31 PM · #1
I think the recent forum about a contest about birds it's very nice.

So I thought it would be a good idea (and a great help) if people that are used to nature photography in general, and bird photography in particular could post some things to help the less used to this kind of photos, regardless if the challenge is going to happen or not.

So it would be nice to post:
- lens used (teleconverter, ect.)
- locations (public gardens, woods, reserves, etc.)
- tricks (do you take some feeding to call them over, etc.)
- hidden or just waiting?

And other pertinent things that you used to do.
 04/24/2005 02:24:39 PM · #2
From my limited knowledge nature photography is considered to be better if done in the wild, and without artificially disrupting the animals regular environment with things like feeding or flash. However, many would call this being overly "purist"; and you can't always tell the difference by looking at the results.

I don't think you can hide from wild animals. But you can be patient and let them become accustomed to your presence, and let them learn that you are not a threat to them. Their senses are, for the most part, keener than ours. Birds are everywhere in such variety and numbers that there is no specific technique to cover all situations. What kind of bird photography are you most interested in?

04/24/2005 02:32:26 PM · #3
Just thinking in general purposes.

Last week I went ot do some phots of flamingos, but I could not get close enough for my 70-300. But they did'nt seem surprised to see me and didn't run of (I was about 10 meter or less from them). But I readed a few days that some people have some kind of shelter and mount there the camera and trypod and then set down and wait. And sove people even buy bird seeds and put it where are birds so they came out to eat or drink to take their shoots. Just woundering what where people's habbits around here.
 04/24/2005 02:41:49 PM · #4
I found that some hummingbirds will return over and over again to rest on the same twig. I was able to stand around for about 20 minutes as this hummingbird would fly off for a minute or two and then return to the same spot at the top of a bush. I would pre-focus and try and wait for it to fly into the frame, or to catch it as it took off again. My camera has really bad shutter-lag so my action shots are not so good, but I got quite a few "posed" pictures which were OK.
 04/24/2005 02:49:49 PM · #5
Just speaking for myself, I think it's fine to photograph birds and animals that have come to a feeder or some other type of attractant. The birds that I feed are pretty accustomed to me, and tolerate my presence very well, even when I snap off a few pictures with my loud 20D shutter. Since you asked, I use a 300mm prime lens, but I don't think there is any such thing as too much reach. In other words, the bigger the better.

GeneralE mentioned shutter lag being a problem for him at times, and I would definitely second that. My previous camera was a Sony Mavica-CD and was virtually worthless for bird photography because of that. Something else that I find valuable since switching to the Canon 20D is the super-fast autofocus of the Canon lens. That, combined with no perceptible shutter lag, has made shooting birds a much more enjoyable pursuit.
 04/24/2005 02:54:00 PM · #6
For those fast little hummingbirds and any good bird photography, a tripod sure helps a lot. Patience and standing around a lot, with full attention on the birds helps too.

Although I have gotten good shots in refuges from the car (in my neck of the woods they won't let you get out of the car)but the camera is supported on a 'beanbag' type mount on the door.

Good shots can be hand held of course, main ingredient in all this is patience and a lot of time.

Unless it's a duck pond where birds are accustomed to being fed, I don't feed the birds.
 04/24/2005 03:00:58 PM · #7
Woops, wrong thread!

Message edited by author 2005-04-24 15:01:39.
 04/24/2005 03:12:21 PM · #8
For domestics check your area for Bird Boarding/hospitals, that let you visit the birds. I lived in San Diego six years before I found out about the Bird and Animal Hospital that has free flight (for a buck donation) you can go in and hang out with the birds...take a sharp fast lens. I used my 50mm 1.8 MK II for the shots in my Del Mar Bird and Animal hospital collection.

I see a lot of people taking this bird from afar...at the Bird Hospital I actually pet this guy...that black thing on top of his head is cool feeling...kind of like a cotton ball.

As far as Zoo's and what not...go early... Get the Lorikeets first thing in the morning before they have been fed by everyone all day long. Cause when they are hungry they will come to you.



As far as lenses for Wild Birds I have been having pretty good luck with the 70-200mm 4L with a Kenko 1.4x Pro 300 DG teleconverter. That only birds that I just can't get enough detail are the Birds of Prey (White Tail Kites, Red Tail Hawks and Kestrel near work), my buddy shots em with a Sigma Bigma (500mm) and you can see bunnies in their clutches where I just get a bird flying.

When I go to the local lakes the birds are pretty cooperative, this osprey sat and watched the fisherman for about an hour (70-200mm 4L only...this is before I got my TC):



I would like a little more reach but would rather save $$$ for good glass cause taking pictures of birds with a lens that has not detail on the long end is more frustrating to me than missing the shot.
 04/24/2005 03:13:31 PM · #9
I go birding and I usually aim for the longest focal range I can get.

First it was an Olympus C-2100UZ + B-300 which gave me about 645mm of focal range to work with.

Now I moved on to a 100-400 and I just recently picked up a 1.4x tele to make it 560mm plus the 1.6 focal multiplier from the Canon camera.

Locations range from my back yard to parks to a zoo. I usually walk around very slowly without trying to make too much noise and listen for movement or sounds. Then I stop, try to find whatever was making the sound. Sometimes, but rarely will I just wait in a spot, unless I know that it's popular with birds for some reason.

Olympus C-2100UZ + B-300 shot at the local park
Female Cardinal
Olympus C-2100UZ at the Bronx Zoo
Inca Tern
Canon + 100-400 at the local park
Northern Mockingbird
 04/24/2005 05:39:50 PM · #10
For wildlife (mainly birds) I use a D70 and a Tamron 200-500 lens. If the light is good I use a Tamron 1.4x tele-converter. If I̢۪m stationary I use a heavy tripod, if not a heavy monopod. Occasionally I will shoot in the 200-300 range handheld. I have also used the car as a blind and a beanbag to rest the lens on.

Best advice for birds taht I received was to use aperture priority set wide open to provide the fastest shutter speeds. Light colored birds I will compensate at -1 to -2 EV. Dark birds maybe +1.0 to get more detail of feathers. If the bird has bright white on it I expose for the white which will normally mean -1.3 or so.

Patience is the key for most shots. Second is know their behavior and set up where you know they will be. An example is that Snow Geese will always go to water for the night, Egrets to roost over water. If you know where they will return every night you can set up for them flying in. The opposite is the morning fly off. General E mentioned Hummingbirds that tend to roost on the same branch after eating out of a flower or feeder. Same goes for flycatchers etc.

I recently returned from a ten day trip to SE Arizona and New Mexico and took over 600 shots, mainly of birds. Even with the good light down there I learned that you can not have a too fast lens. Someday I will buy better glass to get more range and better crispness. In the meantime my setup worked well enough. I will post them soon to my website and let you know.
04/25/2005 11:15:45 AM · #11
I do a combination of bird photography, both in the backyard near the feeder and in the wild. The photos I take in the backyard I go to some lengths to try to make look more natural by shooting the birds as they wait for a turn at the feeder on nearby trees, or on the ground near the feeder. I will also tie branches directly to the feeder itself, which is a terrific way to get closer to the birds and achieve more natural looking shots. This shot:



was taken on one of those branches, which frankly is showing some age now, but you get the idea.

It was mentioned that you cannot hide from wild animals, but I disagree, at least when it comes to birds anyway. I have been able to get much, much closer to birds using a portable blind than I could otherwise. The birds know something is there, I am sure, but I can move around inside the blind without startling them into flight, and they will come very close to the blind. I do agree that patience is key.

Equipment wise, I use a 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L lens, sometimes with a 1.4x adapter, and I will also use a 180mm F/3.5L Macro lens, using it as a normal telephoto lens (which has amazing bokeh). I almost always use a tripod, and I use a 580EX flash, sometimes with a Better Beamer attached (an awesome flash extender). With the flash, I am trying to use it in manual mode now due to the pre-flash startling the birds too often when using it in E-TTL mode. These are examples of how fast birds can move between the pre-flash and the actual exposure:



They are kind of cool, but not usually what I am trying to achieve :-)

Anyway, those are some rambling thoughts of mine on one of my favorite subjects in photography. A great book that can be had on the cheap is by Art Morris, The Art of Bird Photography: The Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques.

Good luck!

Message edited by author 2005-04-25 11:16:01.
 04/25/2005 11:45:18 AM · #12
Ethically I think feeders are fine for songbirds. They are already accustomed to man, and they have voluntarily left their domain for man's. Now, if you're hiking through the woods and decide to pester a nesting bird on THEIR turf, I don't think that's ethical. I guess ethics has context.

In a similar vein, I picked up an interesting tip from one of Art Morris' books... Gulls can be excellent subjects. They are always "doing things", are well accustomed to man, and are easy to find. If you want to create best selling bird images, maybe gulls aren't your best bet due to commonality, but if you are looking to improve your skills and create cool images, they are a great warm-up subject to get you used to panning and "thinking fast".

Equipment wise, the fill flash is a big winner for birds, and although I don't have one yet, I routinely hear praise for the very reasonably priced better beamer. My biggest glass is 300mm, so at that range with small birds, my SB-800 speedlight has all the throw I need. If I had a teleconverter I might think otherwise.

Be careful with wide open shots... Depending on the bird's orientation my 300 at f/4 can leave its tail out of the field depth. I find that f/6.3 gives me the best balance between depth of field and obscured background.

Another thing that will be easy to overlook is background. When you first start making bird images you'll be so "wow'd" by the close up detail of the bird that you won't notice the busy background. Often, by shifting the camera angle slightly you can create a much more pleasing backdrop. For example, in the image rich posted, a slight camera angle change may have been able to eliminate the vertical brown and leave only the consistent green. Those little details all add up.

If you're really interested, check out Amazon or your local library for Art Morris' books. He's definitely the authority in the industry.

My songbird gallery. All images were created with a Nikon D70 and 70-300 f4-5.6 G lens.

Message edited by author 2005-04-25 11:46:44.
 04/25/2005 11:52:13 AM · #13
Interesting that feeding wild birds can be seen as "unethical", but scaring the sh*t out of them with a flashgun is okay! : )

Some great info in this thread, thanks and keep it coming.
 04/25/2005 12:11:33 PM · #14
Originally posted by bod:
Interesting that feeding wild birds can be seen as "unethical", but scaring the sh*t out of them with a flashgun is okay! : )

Some great info in this thread, thanks and keep it coming.


The flash isn't universally scary, and distance to subject is also a variable. A better beamer from a distance with a good telephoto isn't scary at all. An SB-800 blast from 5' will probably put a skittish bird in therapy for weeks :) On the other hand, the chickadees on my bushes aren't afraid of anything. They sit there 12" from me while I fill the feeders, and just ignore flash bursts.
 04/25/2005 01:05:34 PM · #15
Originally posted by cghubbell:
My songbird gallery. All images were created with a Nikon D70 and 70-300 f4-5.6 G lens.


Excellent gallery. Your cedar waxwings are especially beautiful.
 04/25/2005 01:45:13 PM · #16
Originally posted by bod:
Interesting that feeding wild birds can be seen as "unethical", but scaring the sh*t out of them with a flashgun is okay! : )

Some great info in this thread, thanks and keep it coming.


I agree there is some real good info here. I can third the Morris books although he is a bit Canon-centric, LOL.

To clarify a little I don't think cghubbell actually said it is unethical to feed wild birds in the wild. Feeding only works on some birds anyway, try it on flycatchers! Some of the best known wildlife photographers bait for eagles and such. He did mention disturbing nesting birds by getting close and that is a universal "no-no" in bird photography from what I hear. Flash seems to have little effect on most birds. I use a SB-800 and will likely buy an extender soon. If anything it just alerts them to your presence and they move but seldom have I found that they startle.

But I̢۪m still learning as I go! I find bird/wildlife photography challenging and it gets me out. That along with some birder friends makes a good combo for my photography hobby.
 04/25/2005 01:58:22 PM · #17
Here's one I took from my car because it was raining.


05/01/2005 12:46:33 AM · #18


and did i see a earlier?

I've always got good results with a cheap 75-300 handheld, but have recently splashed out on a 100-400L IS... images yet to come though
 05/13/2005 10:39:22 PM · #19
A Challenge of this sort would be great as its something that is really interesting me at present, I don't call them or feed them its just a matter of learning the spot that I go to and observing what the birds do, from a few visits to one place I have seen that they always go back to the same place after being fed and I use a 75 - 300 non IS zoom lens. Thats all I can say... Its about learning about there patterns to get a good shot.
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