Photography is a greek word that means to “draw from light”. It is the art of using light to create beautiful images. We use photography to create, and document moments we want to remember and cherish. The images we create from photography help us remember where we were, what the environment is saying at that time, and the activities been carried out. With photography, no memory is forgotten, and most importantly, we get to share those moments with others.
There are different aspects of photography, ranging from portrait photography, sport, fashion, animal, still life, etc. Animal photography is the aspect that deals with the documenting of activities of animals either in or outside of their natural habitat. There are also different genres of animal photography, but bird photography is one unique part that keeps people puzzled.
Birds photography, also known as Digiscoping, captures images ranging from domestic birds such as turkeys, Ducks, Pigeons, Quails, and chickens to wildlife like the American Goldfinch, wild turkey, etc. You might have been trying to capture stunning bird images, but your efforts have been futile. We often think to ourselves about how many beautiful bird images we have missed because we don’t know how to take pictures of this beautiful creature.
Bird photography might be looking super tough, but trust me, it is one of the easiest things to do when you find your way around it. It might require a little patience, but it is all worth it. Contrary to what you might have heard or seen; you don’t need any sophisticated type of equipment to capture stunning bird images.
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How To Shoot Stunning Bird Images
There are proven tips and tricks that would help you get beautiful bird images, and most of them would likely not take you out of your comfort zone and still get you excellent results. You must pay attention to the type of camera equipment, the camera’s settings, how to locate and approach the birds, tips to get good images, and the post-photography aspect.
If they are followed duly, you will be astonished at how much your bird image will come out beautifully well.
Type of Camera
The gear of the camera is an important aspect of bird photography coupled with the fact that most birds would take flight at the sight of humans; your camera and lenses would help you get a better shot of the birds.
The best type of camera would be one that helps you get at least a shutter speed of 1/2000 with a buffer big enough to handle large bursts. Modern cameras with this level of higher speed are advised, and products from Nikkon, Cannon, would work perfectly. Other cameras may get you good shots but not as much as the ones listed above because your camera might not be fast enough.
The lens of the camera has a huge role to play in capturing stunning bird images. The best type of lens for bird photography is the Sigma lens of about 150-600nm; it is one of the best lenses, especially for beginners just starting; it is flexible and user friendly, can fit into different camera brands, and is affordable. The Canon EF 100-400nm lens is perfect for professional photographers; it might be a bit heavier but gives one of the best clarity for bird images. Good lenses help you get clearer images, and they are not so expensive; you just have to find one that suits the outcome of the pictures you are expecting.
Luckily there is always a camera lens for your budget, so you just have to know what you want your lens to look like. Aside from lenses, you would need a good tripod, batteries, memory cards to get perfect bird images. Being able to capture pictures of birds without getting close to them is why you need to make that you have a good camera.
Camera setting
Being able to achieve and maintain fast shutter speed is important; however, lower shutter speed might be used in achieving bird images with blurred wings. Most cameras have modes such as the aperture priority, which is the best for bird photography, manual, shutter priority, and program.
The aperture priority has a huge role in the depth of the field, which helps capture the full details of the bed without any part getting blurred. It also helps to automatically regulate the lightening of the bird image.
Another important way your camera setting can help you achieve a perfect bird image is by using the Reciporal rule, which helps you keep the shutter speed to fit the total length of the lens, but in terms of high-resolution images, you might want to adjust your shutter speed manually to give better results.
The perfect camera setting, especially for the Nikon camera, includes the aperture priority mode, metering, the release mode of high continuous speed, and autofocus mode.
Discovering Birds
Knowing and getting yourself acquainted with birds would help you capture stunning bird images; it is advisable to first start with birds that are comfortable around people and won’t even mind posing for the pictures. It is best to capture birds in their most natural forms, like when they are sitting on trees, trying to perch things off the floor. Most professional photographers would advise that you take pictures in the mornings or even later in the afternoon to help you get perfect shots.
Bird photography is a unique art, so you will be advised to just keep taking shots and observe them critically and try to make every shot better than the previous one, and you might just be on your way to becoming the best bird photographer there is. The good news is that some of the best bird photography locations might just be around you.
Approaching Birds
It might not be news that when you try approaching a bird, you scare it off, and it takes to flight, and you might be looking at bird images from other photographers and wondering what you might be doing wrongly. There are very easy tips and tricks that could help get shots of them in their comfort zone to approach birds.
Some birds might allow you to get pretty close to them, others might take off when you are not even close at all; these types of birds are the hardest to photograph, so understanding the type of bird you are dealing with might help you get the perfect bird image.
Some tips that might help include
- Whenever you see a bird to photograph, don’t rush trying to bring out your camera or even get close to them, take things slowly, and don’t immediately try to completely slow down. Make them feel comfortable, and you just might have a perfect shot.
- You might want to put your phone on silent so it doesn’t ring, or an alarm doesn’t come in that can immediately ruin your shots.
- You should wear outfits that can help you blend comfortably into your environment as very bright and over colourful outfits can scare them away.
- Do not walk directly to a bed because they may feel threatened; you can walk in patterns so that they do not see you as a threat.
- Take time to study birds so you can know when a bird is scared; you can easily know when to be more patient
- Be as silent as you can as dragging your feet on the floor, coming through the bushes, would make them fly away.
- Knowing that they like the quietness, try taking the pictures from afar if you know that your shutter sound might scare them off.
Capturing Birds
Getting good images might not require complex types of equipment but skill, a good understanding of your tools, and patience. When birds are on a flight, a high shutter speed is required, so the image doesn’t come out blurred and poorly taken. Shutter speed of 1/1000 or 1/1600 does the trick for birds on flight and how fast the bird is going. The background of the image is also a very important aspect to consider in bird photography but considering that you might not be able to control the environment that the bird is in, some photographers created an environment maybe around trees close to their houses to get some of the bird images you have seen.
Some tips that might help you capture the best images include
- It is always best to focus on one eye of the bird; other parts of the bird image might be blurry but focusing on the nearest eyes gives the bird image a unique feel.
- Using a camera flash might help improve the lighting of your image and even help you get better pictures in dark areas.
- One of the best pieces of advice you need to hear when you take bird images is to take as many as possible because this would help you choose your best shot.
- Try as much as you can to get the perfect angle before taking the pictures because if you rush into taking the pictures, they will come out as nice as you want them to be.
Post Processing And Editing
Most bird photographers know how to take good bird images, but not every one of them knows what to do when it comes to this stage. Raw images might look great, but you can bet that processed bird images come out better. There are many ways you can decide to process your bird images, but most people use Photoshop and Lightroom. They work hand in hand to give you a better image, and they are also super easy to use.
Another important aspect of processing bird images is cropping; considering that you might not have taken the picture in a good background, it also gives your image a nice look and feel. Like also taking pictures of birds, with practice, you can get better at processing your bird image.
Beautiful Free Bird Images To Download: Where To Find?
There are so many places where you can get beautiful bird images for free to use for either commercial or personal projects. Some of them include
photoAC
On photoAC, you can get free images of Hummingbird, Owl, Peacock, Eagle, Parrot, Duck, Sparrow, Pigeon and Dove, Crow and many more that can be used for personal and commercial purposes.
They provide photos with top-notch quality, and you can even sort by date to get fresh content that is just coming in, and it is easy to navigate and use. As mentioned earlier, you can get pictures of different birds, and here are some of the photos available on photoAC:
Stunning Hummingbird Image
Stunning Owl Image
Stunning Peacock Image
Stunning Eagle Image
Stunning Parrot Image
Stunning Sparrow Image
Stunning Crow Image
Pixabay
It helps provide free licensed photos; it is new compared to the others but has gained popularity and trust from its audience.
It has thousands of images at the moment and has a lot of bird images you can choose from, and these images come with high quality.
Unsplash
This is another site you can download tons of free bird images from for use, but they have a limitation in that you cannot use their pictures on a website.
Pexels
This is very common among users, like Unsplash; they have terms and conditions of use. They are known for their high-quality images.
Final Thoughts
Bird photography is one the most interesting part of animal photography because, unlike most animals, they fly, and that’s the beauty. For most photographers, it could be one of the things that would get you frustrated, but for bird photography, it could be an enjoyable and a shoot you look up to because it’s an art.
When done rightly, the final image is pleasing to the eyes of everyone that looks at it, so although it requires so much patience, it is so worth it in the end.
I hope this tip helps you become a better bird photographer. Cheers!