CategoriesWildlife by

Quick Tips – Beginner Bird Photography

Photography subjects are all around us. When you are a beginner, sometimes it can actually be overwhelming to decide what to start photographing. I, of course, focus on nature and wildlife photography. One of my favorite wildlife subjects is birds. I enjoy learning about them, the challenge of photographing them, and teaching others about them. In this Quick Tips blog, I will give some tips on getting started photographing our feathered friends.

Benefits of Photographing Birds

There are many benefits of learning how to photograph birds. A few include

  1. Getting outside and enjoying nature
  2. Your subject is everywhere, even cities and your own backyard
  3. For birders, good photographs help with bird identification and documentation
  4. All ages can enjoy it
  5. Provides a fun challenge

How to Get Started

Begin by learning some basics about your subject. Knowing basic behaviors and characteristics will help you appreciate your subject more and help you to identify, locate, and photograph them. 

Identification Help

Local year-round birds are easiest to start identifying and photographing. Migrating birds are fairly predictable, so you can learn the times of the year that various birds migrate through your area. Male birds are usually more easily identified because they are more colorful and vocal. Females and young males can look very similar. 

There are many great tools available to begin identifying birds and to learn more about them. The Cornell Lab Merlin app is a free tool that I highly recommend. A good bird guide book is another excellent resource. Many are available including ones by Peterson, Sibley, Audubon, and National Geographic. As you become more involved in bird photography, you may also enjoy joining a birding and/or photography club or group. Research your area for Ornithological Societies, Camera Clubs, and Birding Social Media Groups.

Basic Behaviors

Learning basic behaviors such as what birds eat and their preferred habitats will help you draw them to your yard, know where to look for them on location, predict their behavior, and get better photos. Backyard bird feeders will attract different birds based on the types of feed and seed that you use. To attract many different birds, use a variety of seeds and use suet for woodpeckers. Consider planting trees, shrubs, and flowers to attract birds. Hummingbirds, for example, will be drawn to nectar producing flowers. While other types of birds will eat the seeds produced by flowering plants. All birds will benefit from having cover and nesting places in backyard plantings.

Hummingbird feeding on Jewelweed

Some birds will feed predominantly on insects, and you can use this knowledge to get photographs of them catching a meal in flight or delivering an insect to their young as in the image below. 

Meals on Wings

Other birds that feed on berries will be found in trees and shrubs. So, looking for likely food sources can result in great photos of them eating colorful berries.

Yellow rump with a cedar berry in its beak.
Berries for Lunch

 Gear to Get Started

As you get started photographing birds, you will need some basic gear. A good pair of binoculars tops the list of recommended gear. There are many brands available. Look for good quality 8×42 binoculars. Binoculars will help you find and identify the birds that you want to photograph.

As with binoculars there are many camera brands available. Look for a digital (DSLR) camera from a respected manufacturer such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic. You will want a camera and lenses with vibration reduction (VR) and image stabilization (IS) capabilities. A good birding lens would be a 200mm or higher. Zooms are very versatile and can be used, also. Other equipment that will be handy is a tripod and a monopod with a Gimbal tripod head.

Photographing

Bird photography is fun and challenging. You are frequently photographing a moving subject that at times is quite small and in variable lighting. Below are some tips to follow as you practice photographing birds. Keep in mind that the key to progress is practice. Since birds are in nearly every environment, you can practice regularly even if it is in your backyard or a nearby city park. As you practice, the techniques become habit, and as you adventure into different settings to photograph birds your results will be better and better.

Photography Tips:

  1. Practice looking back and forth from camera to subject with your naked eye
  2. Practice panning (moving camera/lens the same speed as the subject) as you photograph the moving subject
  3. Study bird habits to anticipate their movements to capture action shots
  4. Be prepared – try to position yourself with better lighting such as sun behind you to help your images show better detail and color
  5. Shoot flying subjects as they are coming slightly toward you (not flying away)
  6. For static subjects shoot at lowest F Stop (f/2.8-f/5.6) and speeds equivalent to lens length (1/400-1/800)
  7. For moving subjects shoot at a higher F Stop (f/6.3-f/8) and higher speeds (1/800-1/1600)
  8. Use your lowest ISO possible for best results
  9. Use single point Autofocus for static subjects
  10. Use small group Autofocus for flying subjects

In conclusion, learning bird photography is a fun and challenging hobby that anyone can get started doing. Download a bird app such as Merlin by Cornel Lab to your phone and begin identifying the birds in your neighborhood. Improve your yard with feeders and simple plantings to encourage birds, and you will be able to easily practice your photography in your backyard. Get started with some basic camera gear and binoculars. Soon you will find yourself enjoying your bird photography as much as I do.

CategoriesLandscape by

Quick Tips: Smoky Mountain Landscape Photography

When visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, you’ll want to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and take some amazing photos. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your Smoky Mountain photography.

1. Take advantage of the golden hour

One of the best times to capture great landscape and wildlife photography is during golden hour. This is the time shortly after sunrise or shortly before sunset. The lighting is softer and warmer during golden hour, and the mountains tend to take on a beautiful, golden glow. Here are a few pointers for taking amazing photos during golden hour. Position the rising or setting sun behind you. Watch for warm tones hitting your subject. Use a tripod to ensure sharp images. Golden hour is a special time of day, so make sure to savor the moment and take in the stunning views and photographic opportunities.

Rich Mountain in Cades Cove with a alpenglow during golden hour.
Rare alpenglow in Cades Cove during golden hour.

2. Get up early to capture the morning fog

If you want to take some truly stunning photos of the Smoky Mountains, then you’ll need to get up early to catch the morning fog. After all this is how the Smoky Mountains got their name. It occurs most mornings in the valleys and rivers. Here are some tips to help you make the most of this magical time of day. First, plan your route in advance. Decide which overlooks you want to visit and map out the best route to get there. Plan on starting at higher elevation overlooks to be above the fog. Spend time and be patient as the fog changes and dissipates during the morning. After shooting from above the fog, move down to lower elevation. This is when you can look for vistas with contrasting areas of sharp detail and wispy fog.

Sunrise in the Smoky Mountains with fog filling the valley and mountain peaks rising in the background.
Morning fog in the Smoky Mountains.

3. Use a tripod

Another way to take great photos is to use a tripod. This will help keep your camera steady and prevent unwanted blurriness. A tripod is a must have to capture soft water effects when photographing waterfalls and rivers in the Smokies. You will need to locate and select waterfalls with the right amount of water. You don’t want rushing water. Large amounts of rushing water result in over exposed images. Small amounts of constant water will give the best results. To create the soft, misty water effect you will use a slow shutter speed. Typically, a speed of 1/8 of a second to 1/4 of a second will work. The shutter speed will be dependent on the speed and amount of water. Using a tripod prevents the image being blurred from the slow shutter speed. Experiment with different settings and different angles to get the look that you want.

Photographer, Barry Spruce, standing in the river with camera and tripod to photograph a Smoky Mountain waterfall.
Getting in the river to get the shot.

4. Hire a guide

When visiting an area that you are not familiar with, there are many benefits to hiring a local guide who can help you get the images that you want. Local knowledge from a guide will save you a considerable amount of time researching an area. Plus, the guide will know spots and have insights from experience that you will not be able to find on the internet or in books. Lastly, a guide who specializes in photography will be able to help you with camera settings, set-up for the best compositions, and other pointers while guiding. Even though I am an experienced guide and photographer, I use guides when I visit new areas. The time savings and local knowledge are invaluable.

In conclusion, when photographing in the Smoky Mountains, get started early in the morning to capture the mountain mist at sunrise. Plan ahead so that you can take advantage of the golden hour for stunning landscapes and wildlife.  Use a tripod to ensure the best results for your landscape photography. Lastly, consider hiring a guide to ensure that you get to the right spots at the right times to capture the perfect photos. And don’t forget that the more you practice the better your final results will be.

CategoriesLandscape, Wildlife by

Quick Tips: Photography Composition

Have you ever looked at an image that grabbed your attention and held your interest as you gazed at it? Did you wonder how the artist went about creating that visual experience? There is a good chance that some basic rules of composition were used in creating the image. In addition to knowing how to use your camera, learning a few basic composition techniques will greatly improve your images. We will cover 4 quick tips to improve composition in your photography:

  1. Rule of Thirds
  2. Leading Lines
  3. Color Bokeh
  4.  Natural Framing

1. Rule of Thirds

The “rule of thirds” refers to dividing an image into thirds horizontally and vertically. Placing subjects or strong lines of an image at the intersection points of the lines or along the lines themselves creates a balanced, visually pleasing composition.

Compare the two images below. In the first image, you will notice that the subject is placed according to the rule of thirds. Also, the lines of the rocks and mountains are roughly dividing the image into thirds. In the second image, the subject is more centered. The first image is more visually pleasing and has a more dramatic feel.

Person sitting on a rocky out-crop to the left of the image with rows of mountains in the background.
Image 1: Rule of Thirds

Person sitting on a rocky outcrop in the center of the image with rows of mountains in the background.
Image 2: Rule of Thirds Not Utilized

2. Leading Lines

Leading lines are lines in an image that lead the viewer’s eyes from one part of the image to another. Frequently the line or lines will lead towards the main subject or focal point of the image. Leading lines in landscape photography add depth and perspective to an image making a scene more three dimensional.

In this black and white image of Hyatt Lane in Cades Cove, notice how the leading lines of the fence and the road lead you into the field towards the mountains. The leading lines draw your eyes into the image creating a sense of depth and perspective. Also, note how the rule of thirds is utilized in the scene.

Hyatt Lane a dirt road with wooden fence post on each side cutting across a field in Cades Cove with mountains in the background.
“The Road”. Example of leading lines and rule of thirds.

3. Color Bokeh

Bokeh refers to the out-of-focus areas of an image. Bokeh can be used to create a pleasing background effect for subjects. It can result in an image where the subject appears to pop off the page. The basic technique for creating bokeh is to be as close to the subject as possible with the background at a significant distance and shoot with a shallow depth of field (large aperture). It is also important to pay attention to the colors, highlights, and shadows of the background to ensure optimal placement of the subject.

Notice how in this image of a ruby-throated hummingbird sipping nectar from a jewelweed blossom the background is blurred creating a soft, complementing background to the bird. The bird and flower appear almost 3-D.

Ruby-throated hummingbird drinking nectar from an orange jewelweed blossom.
Ruby-throated hummingbird with soft color bokeh.

4. Natural Framing

Natural framing is when an element within the image such as tree branches or an architectural element frame the subject of the image. This draws the viewer’s eyes into the photo and serves to highlight the subject. Natural framing creates a strong composition emphasizing the subject.

Cantilever barn in Cades Cove framed by walnut tree branches in the foreground.
Cantilever Barn in Cades Cove with a walnut tree used for natural framing.

In this barn image of the cantilever barn in Cades Cove, notice how the walnut tree in the foreground is used to frame the subject. The eyes are drawn into the center focal point of the picture.

Lastly, keep in mind when composing your photographs in the field to leave room in your image for later cropping during post processing. When reviewing your images, you often will see a way to compose an image that you did not see when shooting it. So having room in the image to crop it will be important. With a little practice these compositional techniques will become second nature when you are viewing a scene and will improve your photography.