Capturing A Bird Photo At The Correct Angle Is Crucial

^{Note: This tip comes from pages 15-16 in Tobie Schalkwyk’s free eBook - Bird Photography: Exposure, Angles, and Viewpoint}

Some birds’ colors reflect much better from certain angles, not only of the bird relative to you but also relative to the direction of the sunlight. Always be on the lookout for the bird’s movements that reflect its colors best, and snap away!

Regarding height, birds on a perch high above the camera are usually the least attractive shots. If possible, try to get a vantage point at least at the same vertical level as the bird.

Birds in flight are fine photographed from below and usually reveal beautiful feather detail.

A bird photographed from vantage points higher than the bird itself sometimes exposes beautiful colors, especially the wing colors of flying birds. It also sometimes creates the illusion that you are in the air with the bird.

A bit of light from a different angle and this apparent dull-colored hadada ibis (left) was transformed into a canvas of beautiful colors (right).

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!)