Another one of my photographic addictions... Birds!

Birds are another one of my photographic addictions… If you read the blog, you will see I have many! Birds are my favorite animals, I am a bird lover! Nothing is better than taking my coffee outside early in the morning and listening to the birds singing…

You can photograph birds mainly for two reasons, the first being for documentary purposes, when all you want is to record the sighting of one bird, or being able to identify it or document its feeding and nesting habits. For this, the composition doesn’t really matter; you will be mostly looking at feathers, heads or beaks. You will need to use a high shutter speed in order to capture most of its flight pattern and get many angles in a shorter time. Once you’re spotted they go fast! Since I am not into documentary, I prefer a more artistic approach. Taking more time to get a nice angle and background, even if it means not getting the shot at first try…

A good telephoto lens will be your weapon of choice. I use my 300mm and it works just fine. A 400mm or more would be a dream, but I can make it work with what I have at the moment. A teleconverter may be used, but remember you will lose in light and DOF, so it works well, in good light conditions. An open field for example.

Get your gear and get some pics! Sometimes you don’t have to go far to get the best pictures, your backyard is full of life! Keep your eyes open!