tips on bird photogrphy

wildwill · #1 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 06:21 PM

im new to bird photography so has anyone got some advise or tips for me? thankyou.
will

Geoff F · #2 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 07:14 PM

Rather than repeat what has already been said elsewhere, try this earlier post to start with Need a lil help!! First try at bird photography...

If you need any other specific help just ask again.

Geoff.

ron1863 · #3 (**permalink**) 29-03-2009, 07:20 PM

The best tip I can give is to go your local park with a bag of seed. The birds are used to humans and allow you to get close

squishy · #4 (**permalink**) 30-03-2009, 10:50 AM

start with robins

they're very friendly and photogenic

Hobjob · #5 (**permalink**) 30-03-2009, 03:39 PM

Eeore did some handouts for bird phtography too.

PM him, but don't expect an answer for the next week or so
as he got married last weekend

Pete W · #6 (**permalink**) 30-03-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwill

im new to bird photography so has anyone got some advise or tips for me? thankyou.
will

Will, where are you from, as a meet may be possible with myself or other members

Unit · #7 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 12:58 AM

Hi Will,

I am new to birds too, but if it helps I set up a couple of feeding stations in my back garden in January (Sunflower seeds, peanuts, Nyger, meal worms). I then set up a few perches (mossy branch, dried teasle, dodgy looking twig) anywhere from 6" to a couple of feet either side of the stations. After a couple of days i got my first visitors Siskin. The number of species has been growing weekly since. I now have goldfinch, greenfinch, starling, collared dove, blue tit, sparrow, robin, blackbird, thrush,chaffinch to name a few that visit daily.
My hide is now set up permenantly at the min focus distance of my telezoom to get full frame shots of the smaller birds.

My garden is only about 20ft across and i live on an estate- so i have been very supprised at the variety of species.
To get decent backgrounds i have nailed some camo netting to my fence behind the feeders and perches, which makes the shots look much more natural.

I normally use F7.1 - F9 on apature priority at ISO 200 - 400 matrix metering - this gives good depth of field at close range ~2.5m but still blurs out the backgrounds nicely.

The best thing i have found about this project is that it gave me a chance to practise with different species in different light and settings with a least a reasonable element of control on the surroundings. Also your only 30sec away from the kettle and the fridge.

I hope this helps and will post a couple of my images (once i figure out how) for you to see the results.

Unit · #8 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 08:34 PM

Hi Will,

Thanks for the email ref uploading photos.

As promised please find attached a few of my back garden pics. Let me know what you think.

camo · #9 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 09:02 PM

Hi Unit

Very nice photographs and a great tip to learn the basics. There is no getting away from practice makes perfect and you have given yourself the perfect opportunity to practice.

Back to your photos I love the Sisken very sharp! and the Robin is great as it is a bit different from the normal Robin shot.

Roy

Unit · #10 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 09:31 PM

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the comments on the photo's, its great to get positive feed back after putting in quite afew hours in the hide.

Yeah I love that Robin - he sat there for about 1/2 a minute singing his little heart out - I assume a challenge to his rivals as he claimed my little bit of england for himself. They are cheeky little buggers, he sat on one end of that branch while i was tying the other end to a bit of 4"x2" that i had nailed upright to a plank. I didnt seem to phase him one bit.

Hopefully I will translate some of the practise to birds in the wild. I am thinking about setting up a feeder on a local patch of scrubland to try and use flowering hawthorn etc as a different background. Does anyone see a problem with this - other than it being nicked the minute i leave ? I will be using broken bits of sunflower seed as i have heard that nyger is a rampant grower and i think its from africa (so not a natural plant for the uk)

By the way Will if your reading this - be carefull of your exposure if you are planning on using camo netting as your background. It sucks up light like no ones business causing the camera to overexpose - Check your histogram but i have found that 1.2 - 1.7 negative exposure compensation is needed at times. I usually take a couple of test shots every half hour or so of the different perches and then adjust accordingly.

I work on the premise that if the perch looks the same on the screen as it does by eye then the exposure is pretty close to being correct for the bird when it lands. The background doesnt matter at that point.

regards Unit.

By the way my name is Martin, but my nickname is Unit so call me what you will i respond to either. Actually Martin sometimes fails to register.