Unlock the Secrets to Award-Winning Bird Photography

^{Note: This tip comes from Audubon’s article- How to Capture Photos That Will Catch the Audubon Photography Awards Judges’ Attention}

This author spoke with Audubon Photography Awards Judge Morgan Heim about what it takes to wow judges in a bird photo competition.

Each year, Audubon receives thousands of entries to its Audubon Photography Awards (APAs) that depict the beauty and behavior of birds around the world.

But what does it take to stand out among the entries? What are judges looking for when deciding winners in bird photo competitions?

This author spoke with conservation photographer and judge Morgan Heim on Instagram.

Heim shared what photographers should consider when submitting photos for consideration for the various Audubon prizes, including their new Birds In Landscapes Prize. 

From smartphone photography advice to ideas for getting that creative shot, he touched on how photographers can wow the judges with their photos.

Tip #1 - There are three main things that I'm personally looking for: you want it to be technically good. The other thing is that we want these photographs to be ethically made. We try to catch everything possible, so [photographers need to] adhere to strong ethical standards. The third thing is that there must be something special about it. You need a moment—you need a cool behavior, maybe something we haven't seen before.

Tip #2—We see a lot of technically great photos. Generally, that’s not enough. We're looking for things like gestures, something that has an emotive sense to either the action taking place or the way the light is falling across the scene. Those are the kinds of things that we're looking for: moments, emotion, and technical prowess.

Tip #3—The article wraps up with some fantastic tips on ethical bird photography, and I highly recommend you check it out. Birds, like all wildlife, are suffering from human encroachment, and as bird lovers and photographers, we want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

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!)