There can be as many reasons for photographing birds as there are bird photographers; most people take bird photos for a multitude of reasons:
Many factors are involved in creating a bird photograph. All are important to obtaining a quality final image.
Fundamentally, a "good" bird photo is one that meets the needs of the photographer. So, what is "good" to one person is not necessarily good to another viewer. But even photos taken for documentary reasons can benefit from the photographer's attention to the basic qualities of the photograph: proper technique and good composition.
Simple: the Bird and the Habitat are more important than the Photo.
My basic common sense approach to photography of birds and other wild subjects is to approach slowly and watch how the animal reacts. It should be obvious when the bird is uncomfortable with your presence and activities. When you see the changes in behavior that indicate the bird is uncomfortable you should stop what you are doing, give the bird some room, and back off. The safety and comfort of the subject should always be the most important consideration, and no photograph is worth putting extra stress on it.
I know we all want to get close and get good images of the things we love, but being patient is a much better way to go about it. Take your time and watch the behavior of the subject. I don't try to hide from my subjects when I'm taking photos, and many times I will even talk softly to them. They are far more aware of potential dangers in their surroundings than we tend to be, so trying to hide from them doesn't work very well in my opinion.
I seldom take photos of nesting birds, and when I do I am very careful of what I am doing and how the bird is reacting. I limit my time with them. I avoid letting other people see me as I do not want anybody else coming close and putting more stress on the bird.
A favorite recent image is of a Lesser Nighthawk with two very young chicks, sitting on the ground in what passes for a nest with these birds. I started by taking photos from some distance, and very slowly over an hour worked a bit closer. The nighthawk could see me at every moment, and I paid close attention to its behavior and demeanor. I ended up sitting on the ground by this bird and the chicks, with absolutely no signs that it bothered the nighthawk in any way. It is the only time in 30+ years of birding and photography that I have had such a prolonged close encounter with a wild bird. And while I sat there with the nighthawks, a Mourning Dove came within 12 inches of me, a ground squirrel fed within a few feet, and a whiptail lizard was a couple feet away behind me. By sitting quietly and avoiding sudden movements I was accepted as a non threatening part of the environment allowing me to observe and take photos without alarming any of my nearby subjects.
Yes, many of us would like to have longer more expensive lenses that we can't afford. But that doesn't mean that we should try to compensate for the lack of proper optics by getting too close and causing obvious stress to our subjects. A 300mm lens, with a 1.4x coverter, and especially when used on a digital body with a 1.5 or 1.6 "cropping factor" can be a grreat tool for photography. With patience and care you can get close enough to many subjects including wild birds with this setup. Often, the birds will simply come to you if you learn to sit patiently and quietly. Or, you can learn to compose with more environment in the image - I prefer such compositions to frame-filling shots of just the bird, anyway.
Although the photographer's technical and artistic abilities are the most important factors in producing excellent photos, inappropriate equipment can limit the results. Determine what equipment you really need, get the best optics you can afford, compromise on body features to save money before compromising on optics, and stick with proven brands.
The lens forms the image and is the most important piece of equipment. Factors to consider in selecting a prime bird photography lens include:
Some specific recommendations:
Long telephoto lenses coupled with slow, fine grain slide film are an instant recipe for dangerously slow shutter speeds. Some form of camera support is called for in almost all bird photography. Some suggestions on what you can do:
Please keep in mind that I have never owned or used a Canon camera or lens, so you should find other opinions on Canon gear from people better qualified to discuss it.
Digital cameras have revolutionized photography, and it is especially noticable in avian photography.
In November of 2004 I finally joined the swelling ranks of people using digital cameras when I bought a Nikon D70. Id been using Nikon film cameras and Nikon lenses for over 30 years, but had watched as more film shooters switched to digital. The many advantages so outweigh the modest disadvantages that I have no doubt we will see film users dwindle to a cult of art photographers who still listen to music on vinyl LP albums.
Often the first thought of the person wanting to change, especially for trigger-happy photographers who shoot a lot of images, is how much money they will save shooting digital. Yes, digital eliminates the cost of film and processing, but there are plenty of other expenses of digital to make up for this.
More important, to me at least, is the freedom of not having to pre-order batches of film to have on hand, not worrying about having it shipped across the country from my favorite store, not having to manage the bulk on trips, and not having to get it to the lab and back again after it is processed.
One of the great advantages, and one factor that will change your shooting style, is the freedom to shoot lots of images without the burden of paying for the failures. So, situations where random luck plays a role (active subjects, rapidly changing light) can be addressed by taking lots of shots hoping that the random factors will all align for at least some of the images. Those that don't work out can be deleted from the media before transfer to the computer, or from the computer when reviewing all the images. Not worrying about the cost of film plus processing for every frame is very liberating and can be rewarding in otherwise missed results.
Another major advantage of shooting digital is the ability to change the sensitivity to light by adjusting the ISO value on a per frame basis. Your'e no longer stuck with a decision that lasts 36 frames, and you dont need to stock different speed films or worry about push processing a roll when you drop it off at the lab. This is also very liberating.
Capacity of media storage (compact flash in the D70) keeps increasing. Shooting in raw format a single 512 MB CF card can hold about 90 images, and a 1 GB CF card can hold 180 shots. Thats a tremendous advantage over shooting 36 exposure rolls of slide film: you're not interrupting the action to rewind and reload as with film, and you're not constantly looking at the frame counter and trying to decide if you should just change out a roll at 30 frames to be ready for anticipated action.
Digital capture seems to encompass a wider dynamic range than slide film, so it is easier to hold detail in the highlights and detail in the shadows at the same time, provided the exposure is correct. This wider dynamic range may make unprocessed images look a bit flat, but that can be dealt with by contrast adjustments during software processing of the image.
Shooting in raw mode means that the camera doesn't do the processing of the image data, instead writing everything into memory and allowing the photographer to make conscious decisions about how the finished image should look. The camera records data about color temperature of the light, but doesn't force a particular white balance setting on the image.
Working with raw image files allows for better control over exposure, and a conscious choice on tradeoffs between highlight and shadows. It allows the white point to be adjusted. It allows sharpening to be applied at the end of the adjustment process and in Photoshop, rather than be applied one level for everything by an in-camera setting.
Film colors can only be correct when used under light of the correct color temperature. Film intended for daylight or flash exposure yields very yellow-red images if shot under indoor tungsten light without proper filtration, while indoor film shot outdoors is much too blue.
Digital cameras can detect the color temperature of the ambient light and make the necessary adjustments to the digital file (or store the color temperature with a raw image so it can be applied by image editing software), avoiding the off-color problem. Digital cameras usually allow the white balance to be set manually (sunny, cloudy, flash, etc.), or an auto setting can be used. For difficult situations a custom white balance can be determined by taking a reading from a white or neutral gray object.
All but the most expensive professional DSLR bodies have sensor arrays smaller than the 24mm x 36mm dimensions of 35mm film, so lenses are magnified by a factor such as 1.3x, 1.5x, or 1.6x. Nikons have a 1.5x factor, so my 600mm lens for film bodies becomes a 900mm on my digital camera.
The LCD display on the back of the camera is a great way to determine if a shot is in the ballpark or not while there is still a good chance to try again. This is helpful for judging composition, seeing what the subject did at the time the image was taken, and what the exposure looks like.
There are a couple of extra features to deal with exposure evaluation: blinky highlights, and histogram. When the blinky highlights feature is active, the LCD display shows areas of the image that are overexposed (or close to it) by blinking those areas. This is an obvious sign that you wont have detail in these parts of the image theyve been so badly overexposed that they will end up as pure white with no detail showing.
The histogram for the image shows the same effect as a graph, with shadows on the left and highlights on the right along a linear scale at the bottom. A histogram that peaks somewhere in the middle and reaches zero before bumping up against either the left or right shows a good exposure that captures all the tonal information in the scene. A graph that lumps up on the left shows loss of shadow detail; one that bunches up on the right shows an overexposed image with lost highlight detail.
An overexposed image is seldom a good one, and a histogram showing this condition should be cause to adjust the exposure settings and re-shoot the scene.
The same magnification factor that benefits long lenses by making them longer also makes wide angles less wide. If you love shooting scenics on film with a nice 20 mm lens, youll need to find a 14 mm lens to get the same coverage on a digital camera with a 1.5x factor like the D70. Good luck finding a compact affordable non zoom in this range.
And if your favorite film lens was a 105/2.5 that you liked to use handheld for candid portraits, you are also out of luck. Youll need to make do with a 50/2 (75/2 equivalent on a D70) or an 85/2 (127/2 on a D70), or a bulky/slow aperture zoom at 70 mm.
Digital cameras are just special purpose computers, and some of them suffer from slow startup they take a few seconds from the time you turn them on until they are ready to take photos. The D70, at least, is essentially an instant-on camera, and works more like a film camera than a digital in this regard.
There's also a time factor in writing image files to the storage media something that may limit the number of frames that can be recorded in fast sequence. A good fast camera will have a generous buffer size to hold image data in memory as it waits to be written to the storage media. If you like to shoot fast action then pay close attention to this performance item when considering a new digital camera. You might have to shoot in jpeg mode to get file size down so that it doesn't bottleneck the file saving process.
Not worrying about film and processing costs can lead to a lot more frames exposed on any outing. Although this gives more opportunity to experiment and catch active subjects, it also means lots of work managing image files. Files from the camera have cryptic names, so you have no idea what it might be just from the label. You can't toss 20 similar shots of a single subject on a lightbox and quickly discard the weaker images after viewing them with a good loupe; instead you might need to process every one of them to see what the final image really looks like and only then be able to decide which to toss.
You need to transfer images from the media card to the computer, view the images, rename each to something meaningful, file them, and make backup copies to protect from total loss if the hard drive crashes.
Once that is done you can start editing and processing to eliminate the weak images and make the good images look their best.
Digital cameras are subject to the rapid obsolescence of computers, so whatever camera you purchase will soon be replaced by a better one with more features, a lower price, or both. Trying to always have the latest and best camera will cost a lot of money and turmoil. Accept this and learn to get the best images out of the camera you have before deciding that your images will be a lot better if you only upgrade.
The image recording CCD or CMOS array is a magnet for any dust in the mirror box behind the lens. Every time the lens is removed is an opportunity for more dust and dirt to enter. Exercise appropriate care when changing lenses in the field.
Cleaning the sensor requires care, and most camera makers want you to take the camera to a professional to get it cleaned rather than cleaning it on your own. The only recommended user cleaning involves a using a large blower bulb (and not compressed air in a can from the computer store).
There are also a couple of choices for more stubborn dirt involving special expensive brushes and special expensive swabs that most users eventually get brave enough to try on their own.
For experienced film shooters, the basics of photography can be transferred with little effort. Composition, awareness of light, and general camera handling stay the same.
Some people claim that their metering/exposure process must be changed, but so far I've been doing exactly the same with my digital Nikon as I did with my film Nikons trusting the Nikon meter, and it has worked just fine. There are experts who advise giving less exposure to keep from overexposing highlights and losing delicate highlight detail, and you should keep a close eye on this until you know if it is a problem with your camera and shooting style. Digital cameras make this easy, with blinky highlights on the built-in back-of-camera display and access to a histogram for each image recorded.
With increased optical power from the digital magnification factor, you'll need to develop a new feel for what range you can work a particular sized subject. Be prepared for some initial compositions that are just too tight.
Take advantage of breaks in shooting to review shots on the camera's display. This will let you know how well you are doing and might reveal gaps in coverage while there is still time to fill them in. Weak shots can also be deleted to make more room for fresh attempts, but resist doing heavy edits until you are comfortable in judging results on the small display.
The real challenge of bird photography is getting close enough to the subject to get a large size image of the bird on the film. Birds are quite leery of a close approach, and the bulky equipment that photographers must carry makes getting close even harder. Expect that as a photographer, you will need to get two or three times closer to any bird for a good photo as you would need to get with binoculars for a good look. Don't expect that you will be able to get good bird photos as part of a general field trip with a group of birders, since they won't appreciate the much closer approach you will need to make, or they won't want to spend as much time as you need to get closer once they have already viewed the bird. The best bird photos are usually taken on solitary outings.
It used to be that all camera meters were designed to render any subject as a middle tone with 18% reflectance. Spot meters and center weighted meters still take this approach. The latest meters (matrix in Nikon, Evaluative in Canon) try to determine when a scene is other than 18% and adjust from a middle tone reading. Nikon meters seem to do this better than Canon meters.
Composition is simply the arrangement of the various elements within the frame of the photo. Composition is a matter of esthetics - what pleases one person may not please everyone else. There are many published books and articles that talk about the Rules of Composition, but I like to think of these not as rules but as guidelines that suggest a starting point for your own vision. Here are some things that guide my photography:
I strongly believe that every photographer should use personal judgment and react to the scene emotionally and with thought for the particular situation, rather than relying on so-called Rules of Composition. Much of the impact and artistry of photography comes from the composition, and this can not and should not be dictated by arbitrary rules.
Good bird photos can be made almost anywhere, as long as the photographer has mastered the basics of photography and is prepared for the opportunity. But some places offer something special that makes an observant photographer return to them frequently. Places to consider include national, state, and local parks, national wildlife refuges, back country roads with little traffic, the coastal beaches, and your own back yard.
Factors that I find important in defining a "bird photo hotspot" include the following:
Although I think it is essential for every bird photographer to find personal locations of their own, here are a few recommendations to get started. A google search will turn up more information on these places.
Another way to find locations with good bird photography potential is to see where the workshops are held. You can usually see this on the web sites of the people leading the tours, and if you know what you are doing with your camera you could go to the same places on your own and see the same birds.
Boat trips off either coast offer interesting opportunities for those who don't mind the risk of getting seasick, sprayed with salt water, or bored. There are regularly scheduled trips on both coasts, now conveniently summarized in a single issue of Winging It from the American Birding Association.
Pelagics pose some special problems for bird photographers. Space is limited on the boat; the boat is constantly bouncing up and down or rocking from side to side; salt water spray coats camera bodies and optics; you cannot escape sea sickness or restock your supplies until you return to shore. But there is the potential for some truly rewarding photography for those willing to make the trip.
Taking documentation photos of rare birds is a special case of general bird photography, with its own unique conditions. Since the main purpose of such photos is to document the occurrence of a rarity to an area, the aesthetics of the photo become of lesser importance to the shot. The first priority is to get a photo, regardless of all other factors. When you have the opportunity to document an unusual bird, don't waste time trying to get perfect conditions. While you wait for the light to change, or the bird to move into more pictorial surroundings, it may disappear into a dense bush or fly away completely, never to be seen again. Even the worst of photographs can document the bird, as long as the subject is identifiable in the image. Often, photos can be examined after the fact to reveal subtleties that were missed in a brief view of the bird in the field. Photos can support or contradict a natural origin for the bird by allowing examination of feather wear. So, start taking photos immediately.
After getting the first few shots, work on improving the record by getting closer, getting into position for better light, or showing the bird from a different angle. Remember that key field marks may not be visible at all times or from all angles; the more photos you take the better chance that you will capture important details.
Pay attention to the bird's behavior, as this can often help clinch an identification. Try to capture in photos the bird's activity when feeding, moving, and perching.
Include a size indicator if possible in some photos. This could be another bird, a nearby beer can, a dollar bill from your wallet, or whatever common object is available. Try to show the rarity with other, familiar, birds for comparison purposes.
In cases of extreme rarity, take photos on more than one roll of film, and have them processed separately, to avoid a processing accident that could destroy all the photographic evidence of the bird. Having more than one photographer take pictures of a rarity greatly increases the odds of getting decent documentation as it avoids loosing all photos due to a camera malfunction or setting error. If shooting digital, get images on more than one memory card whenever possible.
There are a number of good photo reference books available that can provide more information or inspiration to the bird photographer. I recommend the following sources: