Bad Bird Pictures

May 06, 2020

Bad Bird Pictures

Eastern bluebird (male).

Birds are very hard to photograph. Of course I believe the only way to get better is to get lots of practice. So I went back to Wingfield Pines on April 24 to try again.

Why are they so hard to photograph? I'm just beginning to learn all the ways. Here are some in random order:

They are often tiny. If they are not tiny they are so far away they might as well be tiny, like soaring hawks. Unless they are Canada geese.
Their eyesight is excellent so they will see you long before you see them. Unlike wildflowers, landscapes, friends and family, they may scram. Especially when they see you looking directly at them and pointing something at them. They do not like paparazzi.
They don't often stay in one place for very long anyway. They are just constantly flitting about. Total ADHD.
On the other hand, it's often best for a photographer to just sit still in one place for long periods of time, blend into the landscape a bit, etc. And I actually do have ADHD. So this is hard.
Springtime is about as good as it gets for birding because the males, often the more colorful of the pair, are making themselves quite conspicuous. But the females rarely do this. And when it's not spring, the males will also be more aloof.
When they are perched, or flying against the sky, you've got to have all your camera settings preset or the exposure will be very wrong.
But the times when they are most active are dawn and dusk, when the ambient light is changing rapidly.
When they are flying you've got to have autofocus or you don't have much hope of taking a decent picture. But when they are perched in a tree, you've got to have manual focus or you will just get a nice shot of branches and a blurry bird. And you'd better focus correctly, before they move.
Having more depth of field (the range of space from foreground to background that is in focus) will give you more leeway with focus. It will also make your exposure darker.
Having a faster shutter speed will capture movement better. It will also make your exposure darker.
Having higher ISO settings will make your camera more sensitive to light to compensate for a darker exposure. It will also make your pictures grainier. So instead of blurry, you've got grainy.
If you are taking pictures of birds as part of an effort to learn more about birds (like me!), you may notice that you are at a disadvantage. Knowing a lot about birds beforehand greatly helps you to take better pictures of them. Which is no easy task, because there is just sooo much to know. Sigh. (For example, when you hear a bird, knowing what you are hearing helps you find the bird. And helps you know if it's an exciting bird or you are just searching for yet another robin. No offense intended, robins.)
Also unless you know a lot about birds, when actual serious birders see you taking bird pictures, they will definitely exclaim that they just saw a spot-bellied veery and a crinkle-collared whinchat, and ask what have you seen? And you won't know how to react. "Uh, I saw something that had some blue on it!" just doesn't cut the mustard.