Bird Tips, Tricks, Techniques, etc.

I searched this forum and didn't see anything like this. Since we have a very large population of bird photographers here, I thought a thread where we share any little tips, tricks, or techniques we have learned might be fun and helpful.

This summer I really got serious about bird photography, but I'm sure many of you are much more experienced. I hope many of you will chime in.

So, I'll start by giving a "tip" that I imagine long time bird photographers probably already know.

While Canadian Thistle is an invasive plant and we are trying to eradicate it here in Colorado, nobody told the birds. I have gotten many great pics of small, seed eating birds who are chowing down on the seeds from the thistle. I move slowly toward stands of the thistle and often find birds on the thistle or the nearby branches of trees or bushes.

Who's got the next tip?

My tip for photographing birds…

Let the bird out of her cage. Though it may be easier to keep her in one place while she is inside the cage, you get much better pictures if she's outside of it, even if you have to chase her around your home a bit to get those pictures.

Here, Ava helps me demonstrate…

That's one way to get a photo of a "Collared" or Eurasian Dove. Ha!

I am going to follow this thread simply because I have heard to many conflicting "tips'
The first one I heard is never use a shutter speed under 1/1000th and preferably 1/2500th for all birding shots.
Obviously that is cool for fast moving birds etc but what if you don't have really fast glass and your widest aperture is f5.6 (as per my 70-300 mm which is what I use for most of my bird shots)?
The resultant ISO is very high and not sure I have the ideal camera for that.

1. Give up birding
2. Buy better glass or
3. Buy "better" camera?

And of course the little F*****s (finches) don't exactly hang around.

Get [MENTION=9753]Scott Murray[/MENTION] on here to help us out.

Lawrence said:

I am going to follow this thread simply because I have heard to many conflicting "tips'
The first one I heard is never use a shutter speed under 1/1000th and preferably 1/2500th for all birding shots.
Obviously that is cool for fast moving birds etc but what if you don't have really fast glass and your widest aperture is f5.6 (as per my 70-300 mm which is what I use for most of my bird shots)?
The resultant ISO is very high and not sure I have the ideal camera for that.

1. Give up birding
2. Buy better glass or
3. Buy "better" camera?

And of course the little F*****s (finches) don't exactly hang around.

Get @Scott Murray on here to help us out.

Click to expand...

Hahaha why me there are many others that are much better than what I am. All I would say is this.

1. Shoot morning and afternoon.
2. Use Shutter priority or Manual (if you know your camera), 1/1000th + for BIF and slower for stationary birds.
3. Use auto ISO (This works for me) max ISO 5000 on D800E
4. Take multiple shots at a time 2-4.
5. Focus on the base of the birds neck, this is inline with its eye.

embrace patience; cancel all appointments
keep in mind that they almost always know you are there long before you know they are there
practice emulating a still, stationary object
walk lightly and apace; move randomly and not directly
look slowly and long
observe habit and habitat
expect the unexpected, but do not be surprised if only the expected happens
shoot a lot of pictures

Tis was taken in morning sun.

Shutter priority (1/1000 +)
High-Speed Continuous
Shoot in highest resolution avaliable
Matrix metering No no...try others
Try to get near as much as possible..