Tag: Bird Photography

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.