Birding Stuff
Welcome to the Digital Photography Page
Are you the kind of person who likes to take photos? I certainly am and I have learned to love digital photography. There are two big reasons for this: 1) a digital photo is easily manipulated on my computer and 2) I can take hundreds of photos of the same thing and not worry about the cost of film; I can simply discard the unwanted "takes".

Let's take a look at some of the considerations for BIRD digital photography. There are many sites to help you with digital work in general and some of these appear below as links. But bird photography has its own peculiar issues. That's because birds are a bit peculiar.

Birds sit in trees.
How obvious is that? However, it makes focusing very difficult. I cannot even guess how pictures I have of fuzzy birds and clear branches. I think that my camera becomes possessed by the devil himself at times. There are some tricks to deal with this problem:

  •    If your camera is an auto focus unit, try to set the focus box to the smallest dimension it has and aim it squarely on the bird.
  •   Use a manual focus camera such as an SLR/digital unit. Even then it will take some practice to reach a level of expert when you can narrow your focus onto the just the bird.
  •   Your camera probably has a two-step shutter button which will lock an auto-focus at the half-way point. You might try to lock the focus on a large object such as a rock which is the same distance from you as the bird and then hold the button in place until you swing the center of the screen over to the actual bird.

    Bird colors are somewhat reflective.
     
    This means that there are better times during the day to photograph them. Generally, dawn's early light is as good for birds as it was for Star-Spangled Banner. The combination of warm glow and intense side-lighting really improves the coloring of a bird photo.

    Get an imaging software package for your computer. I use Photoshop but there are many editions of software out there. You will want to crop, magnify, and intensify your pictures. Anyone can use this stuff and it will make you a happy kind of birder.

    • This is an excellent advisor for digital beginners: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm
    This site provides great in-depth tips on using your digital camera: http://www.shortcourses.com/use/
    This site is intended for the use our cameras to photograph birds: http://malektips.com/digital_wildlife_and_animal_photography_help_and_tips.htm

     

    A very fine type of camera for the beginner is the auto-focus (so you don't have to) version. Usually these use a single lens (saves much money) and have a resolution (sharpness) of 10 megapixels or more.
  • Very important! You want image stabilizing software in the camera since you are always going to shooting at a distance and you will have a hard time keeping to camera steady.The software will compensate for shakes.
  • Also, buy a larger memory card than the one that comes with the camera. You will learn to use the largest format you have since you will crop later, but you will be using lots of memory space on the card as you do that.
    • Any of the cameras on the right here are fine for birding use.

     

    A more advanced camera for the birder is the SLR (Single Lens Reflex) version. These cameras offer the possibility of using multiple lenses which will give you a wider range of applications for your camera. However, you will spend more money.
  • Very important! You want image stabilizing software in the camera since you are always going to shooting at a distance and you will have a hard time keeping to camera steady.The software will compensate for shakes.
  • Also, buy a larger memory card than the one that comes with the camera. You will learn to use the largest format you have since you will crop later, but you will be using lots of memory space on the card as you do that.
    • Any of the cameras on the right here are fine for birding use.

     

    If you have decided that you want to purchase an SLR camera, you are going to want to also purchase one or more lenses which will make your camera act like several cameras. You will also look pretty impressive carrying a camera with a long, fat lens and having a bag of accessories by your side. If you are really serious about photographing wild birds, you are going to want an SLR camera and a good telephoto (ie., zoom) lens.

    So there are a few lens your might wish to consider. Be sure that your lens matches your camera.