By mastering these skills, birds can easily become the birds in your films.

In recent years, birds appear more and more frequently in photos, and film friends seem to fall in love with patting birds after discussion. After all, birds are flying animals, and they have a wide range of activities. It is not easy to photograph them. It involves many unique photography skills, which need us to know carefully during the shooting process.

Understand the habits of birds

In order to shoot birds smoothly, we need to have a general understanding of bird habits before shooting. As the old saying goes: know yourself and know yourself, and you will win every battle. The same is true of bird hunting. Only by understanding their living habits can we shoot wonderful works more smoothly in the wild with complex environment.

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By understanding the living habits of red-crowned cranes, we can photograph the moment when they flap their wings and dance more smoothly.

For example, if we want to shoot swans or herons, we need to know the living habits of swans and herons before shooting, and search for their related knowledge, so as to shoot wonderful photos more efficiently in the later shooting.

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Knowing the life habits of flamingos, we can make predictions before they spread their wings, thus increasing the success rate of shooting.

equipment selection

Compared with other kinds of animal photography, bird photography pays more attention to distance and concealment.

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With a telephoto lens, birds can be photographed from a distance without disturbing them.

Usually birds are small and timid, so it is difficult for photographers to shoot at close range. Therefore, we need to prepare a telephoto lens when shooting birds, so as to ensure that the shooting can be completed at a long distance. As for the specific focal length, it can be selected according to the specific situation of the birds being photographed. However, generally speaking, choosing a telephoto lens with a focal length of more than 300mm can meet the shooting needs in most cases.

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In order to keep the animal subject in the photo clear, a tripod is needed to stabilize the camera.

In addition, the choice of telephoto lens brings the narrowing of viewing angle and the increase of safety shutter. So you need to prepare a tripod with good stability before shooting.

Camera setting skills

In addition to preparing equipment, we also need to master some camera settings skillfully, so as to deal with the problems encountered in shooting more quickly.

Usually, in the actual shooting process, we will quickly set the autofocus mode, driving mode, shooting mode, sensitivity and shutter speed of the camera to deal with the problems encountered in the actual shooting as quickly as possible.

Automatic focusing operation

Quickly set the sensitivity In actual shooting, quickly setting the camera sensitivity can deal with the problem of underexposure in time.

Driving mode

Quickly set the driving mode In actual shooting, quickly set the driving mode, which can switch the camera single shooting and continuous shooting mode in time, thus increasing the shooting success rate of wonderful dynamic moments.

Fast focusing

Setting the auto-focus mode quickly In actual shooting, setting the camera auto-focus mode quickly can solve the problem of inaccurate focusing in the shooting process in time.

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In actual shooting, mastering camera setting skills can make shooting smoother.

Capture the wonderful moment

In the process of shooting birds, in order to make the photos more exciting, we can start with capturing the wonderful moments of birds and shoot their wonderful and interesting side.

If we want to capture the wonderful moments of birds, we need to be familiar with their living habits. Only by knowing their habits can we make some effective predictions in actual shooting, so as to capture wonderful moments. For example, by understanding the unprecedented run-up link of swans flying into the sky, we can capture the wonderful moment when they spread their wings and run on the water in actual shooting; For example, if you know the habits of waterfowl such as swans, you can make preparations in advance and film the process of them crossing the water when they land.

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When shooting swans in the wild, we can choose the wonderful moment when swans splash when they take off or land on the water.

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If you are prepared in advance, you can capture the wonderful moment of waterfowl preying on prey.

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When shooting birds in the wild, we can choose two or more birds to stop side by side on the branches and watch the scene somewhere together to increase the interest of the photos.

Of course, in addition to understanding this, you need to observe more when shooting to capture more wonderful scenes.

Reserve space in front of birds.

To reserve space in front of birds, we can understand it in two points, one is that birds fly in front, and the other is that birds are in front of sight.

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Reserve space in front of the birds to prevent them from rushing out of the picture.

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Leaving space in front of the bird's line of sight can give the viewer more imagination space, thus increasing the interest of the photo.

When shooting birds, try to reserve some space in front of the birds to prevent them from rushing out of the picture during shooting. In addition, reserving space in front of the bird's line of sight, just like reserving space in front of people's line of sight when taking portraits, can avoid the viewer's line of sight being suddenly interrupted and the picture composition being uncoordinated.

Common composition methods of bird shooting

In bird photography, when shooting some light-colored birds, and there is obvious light-dark relationship in the scene, we can highlight the shooting object with the help of light-dark contrast, thus showing the bird's hair.

When shooting, we should first observe the characteristics of birds with light and shade in the scene. For lighter and brighter birds, we can measure the light of their bright hair with a camera to ensure the accurate exposure of birds and darken the background to achieve the effect of contrast between light and dark.

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Choose the composition method of contrast between light and dark to shoot the egret, the main body of the photo is more prominent, and the egret feathers are more beautiful.

The contrast between static and dynamic can also be said to be the contrast between reality and reality. Simply put, it is a visual contrast picture that combines static and dynamic scenes in photos. When shooting birds, we often use this method to add dynamic pictures and add new ideas to the photos.

In actual shooting, it is necessary to stabilize the camera on a tripod, adopt appropriate shutter speed, capture the slow-moving body and fast-moving wings of birds, and make a dynamic and static comparison between them, so as to increase the interest of the picture in fiction and fact.

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The bird's fast-dancing wings are blurred, which forms a dynamic and static contrast with the other two static birds.

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Shooting hummingbirds flapping their wings, using the method of contrast between reality and reality, makes the photos more exciting.

In addition, taking pictures of dynamic and static contrast requires not only skilled technology, but also some luck, so the photographer needs some patience.