Lesser Known but Important Mode Settings for Bird Photography

^{Note: This tip comes from SLR Photography Guide’s article- Bird Photography Tips for Beginners}

Tip #1 – Use The Continuous Drive Mode (refer to camera manual).

Always change your camera's Drive Mode to continuous.

This ensures your camera keeps shooting, one exposure after another, while your finger is on the shutter release button. Yes, this also means you’ll end up with numerous bird images. However, you can always delete the bad ones later in post-processing.

Some photographers call this ‘Pray and Spray,” but it is an almost essential camera setting in bird photography.

Taking several shots of a bird flying past gives you a better chance of getting a fantastic shot than taking only one shot at a time.

Tip #2 - AF Mode / Autofocus Mode (refer to camera manual)

It’s recommended that you use AI Servo if you own a Canon DSLR, Continuous AF for Nikon users, or the equivalent of for other camera brands.

Setting these AF Modes will ensure that the camera automatically tracks and focuses on the moving bird for as long as it is within the AF frame.

Tip #3 - AF Point Selection / Autofocus Point Selection (refer to camera manual).

There is no time to think about composing a shot for action bird photography. Therefore, it’s easiest to set your AF Point Selection to a ‘center’ point or cluster of points (see below).

Tip #4 - AF Point Expansion (Canon) or Dynamic AF-Area Mode (Nikon).

If you own a mid- to high-end camera, setting AF Point Expansion (Canon DSLRs) or Dynamic AF-Area Mode (Nikon DSLRs) makes bird photography much easier. 

This allows the photographer to expand their Autofocus Points and include a group of focal points. This setting is practical when tracking a moving bird with just one AF Point is challenging.

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!)