I believe every birding photographer, after getting all the regular ID type shots, will work his way towards photographing birds doing some sort of activity. This would imply the typical foraging or eating photos, building nests, birds in flight (also see my previous article on this topic), even birds doing the natural thing of ensuring their species will continue to exist, birds on the hunt and so on. When catching those birds in flight, it invariably leads to birds landing and perching again, which is fairly easy to do; the… read more →
I regularly see many photographers posting their birding images on social media, websites etc, in the typical ID pose – full body, cleanish background, head turned slightly sideways to show off the profile of the head and bill, feather detail and colours, and legs with claws. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, I do it too, there is more to bird photography than just the typical poses. The detail in facial features and bills of birds are just waiting to be captured. Over the years I have done just… read more →
Ask any three nature photographers how to do birds in flight, and you’ll probably get three different responses. Everyone who do this has developed a method that works for them. Usually it is dependent on type and model of camera body, same for the lens in use and their own personal skills level. So to cut to the chase – the best way to do birds in flight: buy the most top of the line camera body from one of the major brands, buy the fastest focussing, fastest aperture lens… read more →