Photographing Birds
Birds are speedy little creatures, aren’t they? Just when you’re ready to snap a great picture, off they fly! One of my missions this summer has been attempting to photograph birds better. I’ve definitely improved, but still have lots to learn about keeping birds still and my camera! LOL
I’m sharing just a few of my very novice pieces of advice below.
#1. Walk (or even sit) quietly under trees and look up. Do this in early spring before the leaves are fully grown to get the best pictures.
#2. Some birds, like the killdeer below, spend more time on the ground than in the air. This bird was resting in our garden near her nest of eggs. I knew she would be near, so I snuck into the garden quietly. You can see the picture is still a little blurry. I was fast, but she was faster.
#3. The zoom feature on my camera helped get this shot. Birds in our area are likely to be out, yet less active at dusk and I tend to be able to get more pictures. These birds weren’t frightened at all because I wasn’t close.
#4. Most people don’t care much for turkey vultures, but I tend to think they’re pretty cool. Not only are they majestic when flying, but they sure help with dead animal control on our farm! And for beginner photographers like me, they are quite obliging for photo ops.
Other things I’ve learned include:
-having your camera around at all times.
-visiting parks where birds hang around for the free food.
-walking without toddlers sometimes for noise control! :)
-sitting quietly near water where birds will stop by for a quick drink.
-placing bird feeders near the house .
I’d LOVE to hear your tips for capturing birds with a camera!
Our Beautiful Birds NaturExplorer Unit is packed full of ideas for learning more about these impressive animals.
~Cindy
Comments