Compose Your Bird Photos First In-Camera and The in Post-production

^{Note: This tip comes from the photography case study #3 ‘Composition’ inside Photzy’s - 5 Extended Case-Studies on Bird Photography}

The above photograph is a beautiful subject but lacks an excellent organized composition.

As a bird photographer, you should always think about composition. What is your subject area?

Obviously, the subject in this case study is a group of flamingos. But in a pleasing composition, the viewer’s eyes should be led to a particular part of the image frame. This is known as the subject area.

Tip #1 – When a composition is complete, it should lead to a particular portion of the frame known as “the subject area.”

Is everything organized in your shot to bring the eyes toward the subject and latch onto it?

That can be a challenging task, especially when they are all moving.

Tip #2 - In this instance, you should practice “anticipation.” That means thinking about not where the birds currently are but where they will be in the next couple of seconds.

Once the photo is in the bag, then look to improve it in post-production.

With a gentle crop, this photo can be vastly improved. In this screenshot, you can see that I placed the eye of the main bird, the subject area, on the crosshairs for the Rule of Thirds.

Also, note that I eliminated unnecessary details along the boundaries of the frame.

Tip #3 – Many photographers don’t pay enough attention to the edges of their frame. Is that area important? Could the composition be improved by eliminating some of it?

By cropping, I have established the subject area.

Compare this version to the original.

We still have a flock of flamingos. But now the entire image is organized, making it a much stronger photograph.

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!)