Bird Photography: Creative Ideas Using the Environment

^{Note: This tip comes from Canon’s article - How to Photograph Wild Birds}

Wild birds have a close connection with the seasons.

It is very interesting to see the differences among birds, such as summer and winter birds, regarding the areas where they live and the habitats they prefer.

Tip #1 – When aiming to capture your bird subject(s) with the landscape, choose a normal to medium telephoto lens over the super telephoto.

Tip #2 – If you are going to include the environment, make careful choices so that the landscape provides interest and clues to the bird’s daily activities.

It may seem difficult to photograph small birds in a scene. However, putting cute little birds together in a scene with seasonal flowers or greenery makes for a great photograph.

Tip #3 - For summer birds that are breeding, if you find a male's song post (a fixed location for singing), from which he calls females and guards his territory, your shooting chances also increase.

Tip #4 - Since your aim is ‘birds in a scene’, it’s okay if you don’t get up close. Try to capture the splendor of life and the hardiness of birds, even though small, rather than getting a close-up shot that fills the frame.

Tip #5—Even small environmental elements can tell a bird’s story. In the example photo above, the water at the bottom of the frame ‘fills in the blank,’ and we know that this bird is hunting.

Want more? If you want to learn more about bird photography, and capture beautiful shots of your own, we recommend downloading and printing out Photzy’s 10 Bird Photography Cheat Sheets (Special bonus available now!)