Settings And Suggestions For Photographing Birds In Water

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

When photographing birds in the water, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions: Does the background complement or distract from the bird?

Are the water reflections creating a mood or merely creating excessive contrast and distraction from your subject?

Does including the water provide action and a sense of story?

Quick Tip: An electronic flash can put a nice catchlight into the dark eyes of a bird - even from a distance and at low power. If the bird is close, use caution so the flash does not create a shadow in the background. This would be especially true if your bird subject is in the water near shore.

Here are some recommended equipment needs and camera settings:

• Use a DSLR or Mirrorless camera. A smartphone camera might do the trick if the bird is reasonably close.

• Use a longer focal length lens to help isolate the bird from its surroundings.

• Start with f5.6 and check if you’re getting enough depth of field.

• A telephoto prime lens can also be used, although this will limit your composition options from a fixed camera position.

• Find a camera POV (point of view) that provides side lighting on the bird.

• A polarizing filter can be handy to reduce glare at the cost of several stops of light reaching the camera sensor. If it’s a nice bright day, no problem. Leave the polarizer in your camera bag if it is late, or early, in the day, or overcast.

• A monopod is extremely helpful for getting sharp pictures when a tripod isn’t practical.

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!)