Feeding Time Is A Bird Photographer’s Paradise

^{Note: This tip comes from the printable cheat sheet ‘How To Photograph Birds Feeding’ inside Photzy’s - 10 Bird Photography Cheat Sheets}

Capturing birds feeding in the wild will test your skills. However, it requires an additional element: gaining knowledge about the birds’ feeding habits that you wish to photograph.

Capturing birds’ feeding requires patience, knowledge, and maybe a bit of luck.

When gearing up, you will want a DSLR or mirrorless camera. In most situations, a smartphone camera won’t get the job done.

You will want a lens with increased focal length to see the details of the bird feeding.

• A 150-600mm lens works perfectly

• A 100-400mm lens is also a good choice.

• A 70-200mm lens is adequate in some situations.

Setup your camera as follows-

• Camera raw file format

• Auto ISO

• Center-weighted metering mode

• Focus Mode set to single shot

• Focus points assigned to a small central cluster

• White balance on auto

• Focus tracking is on

• Highlight overexposure indicator is on

• Shutter speed is at 1/180^th or faster

• Aperture is f/5.6 – f/11

In another tip coming up soon, we will talk about setting up a baiting station.

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!)