What are the techniques for photographing birds?

Birds are very interesting animals, but they are not easy to photograph. Wild birds often don't pose the way you want them to, and they are difficult to even approach, let alone take quality photos of. But once you master some of the basics of bird photography, capturing wonderful moments in bird life becomes much easier.

Top1: Grasp of light

Everything starts with good light. The best time to shoot is in the morning or evening, when the light is soft, the tones are beautiful without heavy shadows, and the highlights and shadows have good detail.

Top2: Composition

Usually some space is left in the direction of the bird's flight to show flight. The rule of thirds is also in effect here. Try a few different compositions to see what works best. Also, avoid distracting things in your photos. One final note: try to photograph the bird at eye level.

Top3: Shutter

In bird photography, telephoto lenses are often used, so if you don’t want the photos to be blurred due to camera vibration, the most important thing is not to use them for too long. shutter. The rule is that the shutter speed does not exceed the focal length of the lens. For example, if the focal length of the lens is 400mm, the shutter speed should be within 1/400s. However, this formula only works when using a full-frame camera. If the camera has a small sensor size, it needs to be multiplied by the focal length conversion factor. At this time, the shutter speed limit is 1/640s.

Nowadays, most cameras or lenses have anti-shake function, which is very helpful in low-light environments. Using anti-shake, you can use a longer shutter time. The specific information depends on the data of the camera or lens. For example, if the anti-shake level of a 400mm lens is level 2, you can add a level 2 shutter (1/100s). Of course, if you use a tripod, this rule is less important. If you want to freeze the moment, use a shutter speed of 1/1000s or shorter. If you want to show movement, use a shutter speed of 1/60s or longer.

Top4: Aperture

Most people may know that aperture determines the depth of field. In other words, if you want a more blurred background, use the maximum aperture. However, when using a telephoto lens, some parts of the bird are easily out of focus, so be sure to pay attention to the focus point (usually the eyes). Stop down the aperture a little if necessary.

When photographing birds, there are three best exposure modes. If you want to control the aperture (depth of field), use aperture priority; if you want to control the shutter (photographing birds in flight), use shutter priority; if you can control the exposure, use manual mode. If you are photographing dark birds on a light background and want to get more dark details, you can add some exposure compensation. If you're worried about overexposure, reduce exposure compensation.

Top5: Sensitivity

Bird photography is the same as other categories, the lower the sensitivity, the better. Still, a sharp photo using ISO 800 or 1600 is better than a blurry photo using ISO 200.

Birds are very interesting animals, but they are not easy to photograph. Wild birds often don't pose the way you want them to, and they are difficult to even approach, let alone take quality photos of. But once you master some of the basics of bird photography, capturing wonderful moments in bird life becomes much easier.

Top6: Focus on the eyes

When viewers look at the photo, they will first see the bird’s eyes, so be sure to focus on the eyes and make the image sharp. To do this, don't use automatic focus point selection and make more use of the center focus point.

Top7: Use the correct autofocus range

Many telephoto lenses can switch the autofocus distance range to reduce unnecessary focusing time. When photographing birds, you generally choose a longer distance range, which helps to further reduce focusing time and avoid missing the best shooting opportunity.

Top8: Use continuous shooting

To capture the moment of birds flying, you need to use continuous shooting mode to ensure that you "catch" a good photo. Before going out, make sure the camera is set to continuous shooting mode and the memory card has sufficient capacity.