Most bird photographers will post their best images and let you know how cool it is to photograph birds – me included. But most bird photographers will NOT post the images that they screw up and I guess I didn’t get that memo because I will.
Sometimes you can learn more from mistakes than successes.
In this short post I’ll give you some ideas of what NOT to do when you photograph birds – or anything else most of the time.
Mistake Number One | Composition
Don’t frame so tightly that you cut off part of the bird.
Note the pelican’s wing is cut off at the bottom of the frame. Don’t frame the subject so tightly that you make this mistake. Give yourself a little room.
Mistake Number Two | Membranes
Don’t photograph any animal with a nictitating membrane (from Latin nictare, to blink) when that membrane covers the eye.
(The membrane is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye for protection and to moisten it while maintaining visibility)
Mistake Number Three | Eyes
Make sure the subject is either looking toward the camera or that its eye is at least perpendicular to the camera.
Make sure the subject isn’t looking away from the camera.
Mistake Number Four | Lighting
Make sure that you aren’t photographing subjects in mottled light. Either have the subject 100% in shade or sun – not a combination thereof.
Mottled light is distracting
Mistake Number Five | Backgrounds
Watch your backgrounds and avoid merges.
Note how one bird in the foreground seems to merge over the top of another – strive for separation between multiple subjects
Bird photography – heck ANY kind of photography requires strict attention to details. It isn’t always easy. Maybe by seeing some of the mistakes that might be made you will remember to avoid these when you get your chance in the future. Good luck.
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Filed under: Photography, Shooting Tagged: avian, bird, Scott Bourne
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