DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Essential Tips To Improve Your Bird Photography Skills

Nov 26, 2014 by Tiffany Mueller 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

bird-photography1 Photographing wildlife takes a lot of patience coupled with a decent amount skill, and photographing birds is no exception. If you’ve been thinking about giving bird photography a try, or are just looking for ways to improve your shots, this quick fire video posted on Paulo Carvalho’s YouTube page  is full of tips to help you out. The clip is just under three minutes long and is packed full of useful tips from start to finish. 

Quick Tips For Better Bird Photography

  • Be fast and focused.
  • Visit a local bird sanctuary for a better chance to get close to the birds.
  • A 55-300mm lens is a great starting lens for wildlife photography.
  • When using a tripod, find one that has a smooth ball head that is easy to adjust–you’ll need to be fast to avoid missing a shot!
  • An unlcuttered background helps keep focus on the bird. Using a shallow depth of field is one way to help achieve this.
  • Focus on the bird’s eyes. Just like any kind of portrait, they eyes have to be sharp!
  • If you’re photographing flying birds, use a fast shutter speed (to freeze their movement) and wide aperture to help achieve a shallow depth of field.
  • Shoot in continuous mode to capture a rapid succession of frames as the bird is flying to help you capture the perfect shot.
  • Don’t zoom in so tight that you are can’t fit the entire bird in frame, including it’s wings.

Photographing Birds

The list above doesn’t include all the tips covered in the video and the presenter also expands on some of the advice to give you a clear understanding of why specific tips work. You’ll hear Nikon mentioned a few times in the video, as this appears to be produced by Nikon, but the advice that is shared stands true to just about any brand of DSLR you use. Have a look:

http://youtu.be/B4BT4kBCT7w

[ via The Phoblographer ]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Seven tips to improve your skills in landscape and travel photography marketing Seven essential life skills I learned from photography 12 Essential Photoshop Skills Every Photographer Should Know (With Video) These are six essential editing skills every landscape photographer should know

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: bird photography, shooting tips, wildlife photography

About Tiffany Mueller

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.

« Photographer Captures Stunning Images of Naked Free-Runner in London [NSFW]
How To Shoot a Perfect Watch using only an iPad »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • SpaceX shares unique view of Earth in latest video
  • Get ready to photograph two total solar eclipses this year
  • How I started (and succeeded) photographing space from my backyard
  • Insta360’s new teaser says they’re entering the gimbal market
  • Users report blurry photos from Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+ cameras

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy