Matthew Speakes Photography

Category: Articles

  • Bird Photography Backgrounds: How I Find a Cleaner View

    Bird Photography Backgrounds: How I Find a Cleaner View

    An artist starts with a blank canvas. A bird photographer chooses the canvas—and hopes the bird cooperates.
    Do I want a smooth wash of color behind the bird, an open blue sky, or a wider view showing its habitat? I’m learning that the background deserves as much attention as the subject. Here are a few things that have helped me.

    Start with Separation

    When I want to isolate a bird, I look for distance between it and the trees or shrubs behind it. A telephoto lens and a wide aperture help soften that background. I often shoot at 600mm, but focal length alone won’t make nearby branches disappear.
    Sky backgrounds offer a clean alternative, though exposure needs attention. A bright sky can leave the bird too dark. I add positive exposure compensation as needed while watching the highlights—a challenge I covered in my exposure article.

    Choose a View, Then Wait

    Once I find bird activity, I look for promising backgrounds and perches. Where could a bird land with distant foliage or open sky behind it?
    Birds rarely stay where I want them. One moment, branches hide the head; the next, the bird emerges into a clear opening. I follow its movements and wait for those brief opportunities.
    I don’t need every branch to disappear. I want the surroundings to support the photograph without competing with the bird.

    Change Your Position

    Sometimes the bird is well placed, but my viewing angle isn’t. A small step sideways or a lower shooting position can put a cleaner background behind it.
    I move slowly and watch how the bird responds. If it becomes uneasy, I stop. A better background isn’t worth disturbing it.

    Green Heron before moving.
    Green Heron after moving.

    Check Around the Bird

    I’ve photographed a bird against a beautiful background, only to discover later that a twig appears to grow out of its head.
    Before shooting, I try to check around the head, along the body, and near the frame’s edges. Bright patches, crossing branches, and other distractions are easy to overlook when I’m excited.
    Environmental photographs require the same care. Habitat adds context, but I still want the bird to be easy to find.

    Sparrow in an environmental habitat.

    Finish with Restraint

    In Lightroom, I adjust light, color, and contrast to help the bird stand out. I prefer to preserve the scene I photographed and improve my choices in the field.
    Nothing compares to seeing the bird, background, light, and pose come together. Those moments make all the near misses worthwhile.

  • Bird Photography Exposure: How I Handle Bright Skies and Dark Backgrounds

    Bird Photography Exposure: How I Handle Bright Skies and Dark Backgrounds

    Birds are fast, agile, and unpredictable. But one of my biggest challenges has been getting their exposure right.
    On my outings, birds move between water, shaded trees, and open sky. The light changes, too. A setting that works one moment can make the next photo too dark or wash out detail in white feathers.
    I’m still learning, but here’s what has helped me.

    My Starting Point

    I shoot in manual mode with Auto ISO, I keep my aperture wide open, and set an ISO ceiling of 12,800. At dawn, I sometimes use shutter speeds slower than 1/1000s, accepting the risk of motion blur. As the light improves, I work toward 1/3200s–1/4000s for birds in flight.
    Once I’m happy with my shutter speed, I adjust exposure primarily through exposure compensation. With Auto ISO, the camera changes ISO while I retain control of shutter speed and aperture, within the camera’s ISO limits.

    When the Meter Gets Fooled

    When I started photographing birds, I assumed the camera would handle exposure. I concentrated on framing and came home with dark birds against bright skies and white birds with blown highlights.

    Blown highlights on Great Egret.
    1/2500s at f6, 470mm, ISO 5000, 0 EV – blew out the neck of the egret to the right
    Great Blue Heron in shadow
    1/800s at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 560,+ 2.67 EC – still too dark

    The meter evaluates reflected light, and a bright background can leave the bird underexposed. Getting the exposure right is only part of the challenge. I’ve also written about finding birds and getting them in focus at 600mm. Here are the five things to consider:

    • Metering: Center-weighted metering helps when the bird occupies much of the center. A small bird surrounded by sky may still need compensation.
    • Positive exposure compensation: Brighten the bird, but watch for clipped highlights.
    • Light direction: When possible, stand with the sun behind you to light the bird.
    • RAW capture: Give yourself more flexibility when editing.
    • Slower shutter speeds: For a relatively still, perched bird, slowing the shutter lets Auto ISO drop. This can improve image quality and dynamic range, as long as the bird stays sharp.
    Wood-Pewee with positive EC for proper exposure
    1/3200s at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 8000, +2 EC – sky looks good and bird is exposed properly
    Great Blue Heron with negative EC for proper exposure
    1/400s at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 100, -2.33 EC – background goes dark, but saved the bird from blowing out

    Protecting Feather Detail

    Against shaded trees, white plumage can become overexposed. 

    • Watch the histogram and check the brightest feathers, aiming to preserve detail without clipping important highlights.
    • Lower exposure using exposure compensation
    • Highlight-weighted metering can help protect bright plumage, although the bird may still need exposure adjustments. If your camera doesn’t have highlight-weighted metering, use center-weighted. Also, reflections on water can influence the reading, so I check the subject itself.
    • RAW files offer editing latitude, but you can’t reliably recover truly clipped feather detail. I learned that lesson the hard way.

    Reacting Faster

    On my Nikon Z8, I’ve assigned the video-record button to recall highlight-weighted metering and −1 stop of exposure compensation. It’s a starting point for bright birds, not a guaranteed setting.
    For birds against bright skies, I’m practicing adding positive compensation when needed. I may create a second shortcut for those situations.
    Bird photography remains a work in progress. Learning from missed shots—and occasionally getting everything right—is part of what keeps me coming back.

  • Bird Photography at 600mm: How I Find Birds and Get Them in Focus

    Bird Photography at 600mm: How I Find Birds and Get Them in Focus

    Have you purchased—or are you considering—a 600mm lens for bird photography? A few techniques can help you find birds faster and bring home more keepers. Here are three considerations that have helped me in the field.

    Shutter Speed

    Match your shutter speed to the bird’s movement. For a large bird in flight, such as a Great Blue Heron, 1/1250s can be a starting point, with faster speeds offering more protection against motion blur. For fast-moving songbirds, try 1/2000s or, when the light allows, 1/3200s.

    For hovering hummingbirds, 1/4000s to 1/8000s can reduce wing blur, although even these speeds may not freeze every wingbeat. Perched birds often allow much slower shutter speeds.
    For something creative, try panning with a flying bird at around 1/60s. Expect plenty of misses, but a successful frame can combine a blurred background with a strong sense of movement.

    ISO

    Bird photography has taught me to embrace high ISO. Early morning and evening light can produce beautiful photographs, but combining low light with fast shutter speeds challenges any camera.


    I use manual mode with Auto ISO. I choose the shutter speed and aperture, let the camera adjust ISO, and use exposure compensation to brighten or darken the image. Managing one exposure adjustment helps me react quickly.


    My Auto ISO ceiling is 12,800. Once the camera reaches that limit, positive exposure compensation cannot increase ISO further. If the photograph is still too dark, I need to slow the shutter, open the aperture if possible, or raise the ceiling.
    Noise reduction can help, but results depend on the original photograph. Several images in my other articles (Great Blue Heron in near darkness in this article) were taken at ISO 12,800; you’ll find the settings beneath the photos.

    Finding the Bird

    At 600mm, the narrow field of view can make locating a small bird frustrating—especially when it’s flying.
    With a zoom lens, start wider. I usually find the bird at around 300mm, then zoom toward 600mm while keeping it in the frame. If I’m struggling, I zoom out farther.
    Branches can also distract autofocus. A single-point AF area can help you target the bird more precisely. If autofocus still struggles, manually focus close to the bird’s distance, then try autofocus again.

    Northern Cardinal perched and ready for takeoff.
    1/2000s at f6.3, 600m, 12800 ISO, 0 EC


    These techniques take practice. Getting comfortable with the controls means spending less time searching and adjusting—and more time ready for the photograph.

  • Two Bald Eagles Over Cool Spring

    Two Bald Eagles Over Cool Spring

    I’m located about eight miles from the Virginia border, so I have a couple of favorite birding spots just east of the West Virginia state line. One of them is the Shenandoah Cool Spring River Campus.


    The campus is about four miles east of the state line in Bluemont, Virginia, along the Shenandoah River. Its 195 acres support an abundance of wildlife, including Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles, ducks, cormorants, Red-winged Blackbirds, White-tailed Deer, and many smaller animals. In addition to the river, several ponds are scattered across the property, and that’s where I found myself one mild morning in July.

    Female Red-winged Blackbird perched on a leafy branch against a soft green background.
    1/2000 at f6.3, 510mm, ISO 1250, 0 EC
    Male Red-winged Blackbird perched among green leaves with red-and-yellow shoulder patch visible.
    1/3200 at f6.3, 430mm, ISO 2800, 0 EC,


    Heading northwest along the property, just off the paved cart path, is the smallest pond on the campus. I had visited it a couple of times before and made some nice photographs of male and female Red-winged Blackbirds. That morning, I positioned myself about 25 feet from a small tree to my right. It looked like the kind of place a bird might choose for a perch.


    I checked my watch and decided to stand still for at least half an hour to see what might happen. I could hear ducks moving through the tall marsh grass and reeds around the pond, but they never showed themselves.


    After half an hour, I looked over at the little tree to my right as though it had somehow failed me. Then, almost by instinct, I glanced over my right shoulder toward the clear blue sky.


    Two Bald Eagles were flying together in near-perfect formation.

    Two Bald Eagles flying side by side in a clear blue sky over Cool Spring.
    Camera settings: 1/2500 at f6.3, 580mm, ISO 640, 0 EC


    I quickly raised my camera and began firing off frame after frame. I could hardly wait to get home and see the photographs on a large screen.


    Once home, I went straight to my office and uploaded the images. One photograph immediately stood out. The two eagles were almost perfectly aligned, their wings stretched into nearly identical positions as they glided across the blue sky.


    The pond may not have given me what I was waiting for that morning, but the sky gave me something far better.

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  • Bird Photography at Stauffer’s Marsh: A Lesson in Patience

    Bird Photography at Stauffer’s Marsh: A Lesson in Patience

    I’ve never been a patient person. I feel a strong sense of urgency, get frustrated by delays, and often expect immediate results.

    Bird photography is teaching me to slow down. In the field, I can stand still for a long time and wait for a bird to come closer. There’s no guarantee it will happen, and I’m learning to be okay with that. A recent morning at Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserve put that lesson to the test.

    Stauffer’s Marsh is a 46-acre wetland preserve in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Its ponds, meadow, and trails give bird lovers plenty of places to stop and look. I arrived just before sunrise and headed to the pollinator meadow first.

    The meadow was overgrown, with large trees around its edges. I like to find a spot, stand quietly, and give the birds time to get used to me. I returned to the meadow twice that morning and spent more than an hour there. I heard Gray Catbirds calling nearby, but I couldn’t get a clear view of one. Eventually, I moved on, disappointed.

    At an overlook along the West Pond Trail, I spotted a Great Blue Heron reflected in the water. The sun was just rising above the trees. I made a few photographs that seemed promising, though I wondered whether I’d had enough light for a clean image. After another half hour with little activity, I headed toward the Connector Trail.

    Great Blue Heron standing in calm water with its reflection at Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserve, West Virginia.
    1/800 at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 12800, 0.67 EC

    There, among low vegetation, thick shrubs, and tangled vines, I finally found the Gray Catbirds. I had been walking and waiting for more than two hours and had only one potentially good photograph to show for it. I took shot after shot, trying to find a clear opening through the branches.

    A gray catbird perched on a slender branch with its beak open, singing amid green foliage at Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserve, West Virginia.
    1/2500 at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 5000, 0 EC

    Then something flew over me: a Green Heron. It landed on an angled branch in a tree about 30 feet away. I expected it to notice me and leave, but it stayed long enough for me to move around the tree and find a better angle. I missed the flight photograph, but I knew I had captured the heron on its perch.

    I left Stauffer’s Marsh nearly three hours after I arrived. The catbirds had drawn me down that trail, and the Green Heron had appeared while I was still working for a clear shot. I’m glad I was patient, and I’m glad I stayed.

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  • A Morning with a Great Blue Heron on the Shenandoah

    A Morning with a Great Blue Heron on the Shenandoah

    It’s one of my favorite places: sitting on a boulder with my feet dangling over the Shenandoah River in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. I’m far enough from the outside world that the only sound is the river flowing beneath me.

    It’s not quite sunrise. Looking toward the mountain to the east, I see the beginnings of red, orange, and yellow light as the sun approaches the horizon. I wait with my camera in hand, wondering what the morning will bring.

    To my left, a small rock ledge reaches out from the riverbank, about 75 feet from where I’m sitting. It’s a favorite hunting ground of Great Blue Herons—or perhaps I should say one particular Great Blue Heron. They often return to productive feeding and roosting areas, and an individual may defend a favorite fishing spot.

    Not long after the sun rises above the mountain, a heron glides toward the ledge. Great Blue Herons are elegant in flight, with their long necks folded into an S-shape and their legs trailing well behind them. Their wingspans can exceed six feet. I photograph the moments before his graceful landing.

    He sees me. Many herons would be too skittish at this distance and look for another place to land. Perhaps he stays because of my relaxed posture on the rock, my stillness, or my apparent lack of interest in him. Whatever the reason, he goes about his business—and his business is finding breakfast.

    Great Blue Heron standing on a fallen tree and casting a refection on the water in the Shenandoah River.
    Great Blue Heron along the Shenandoah River in western Virginia.
    1/4000 at f6.3 600mm, ISO 1000, -0.67 EC

    Contrary to what many people believe, Great Blue Herons eat much more than fish. Their varied diet can include frogs, salamanders, snakes, turtles, insects, mice, voles, and even the occasional small waterbird or duckling.

    I sit and watch as the heron stands absolutely still, occasionally breaking into a slow, deliberate stalk through the shallows. I gradually lift my camera and make a few photographs. They probably won’t be keepers, but the early light looks interesting, and I want to capture the scene.

    Great Blue Heron standing in calm water with its reflection visible
    Great Blue Heron at Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserve, West Virginia.
    1/800 at f6.3, 600mm, ISO 12800, -0.67 EC

    As the soft morning light becomes more direct, the heron crouches slightly and lifts off over the water, steadily climbing toward his cruising altitude. I remain seated and let my camera do its thing at 20 frames per second.

    I hope I’ve captured something worthy of my portfolio. But either way, I’ve enjoyed my morning.

    Photo note: The photographs accompanying this story were made during several outings along the Shenandoah River in West Virginia and western Virginia, and at Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserve.

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