how to
photograph
wild birds

On this day, this Common Kingfisher stayed perched on the end of a cherry tree branch for some time. The background, however, was very messy so I looked for a spot where I could get a dark shadow of the forest behind the bird. Thanks to the cloudy sky, I was able to make the most of the bird’s beautifully colored plumage to get a shot in which the subject stands out perfectly.

This shot was taken against the clouds after the rain lifted, what you might call a dark overcast day. I mentioned earlier that you can achieve a soft delineation with light coming through the clouds, but when the background is an overcast sky, the subject becomes even darker than on a clear day with auto exposure. That is because the light is too soft and so no light is reflected onto the bird (it helps somewhat if the bird is white). Because of that, the sky becomes completely white when you have to adjust the exposure compensation to +2 or +3 instead of +1, which is ideal on a clear day, in order to make the pattern on the bird’s feathers stand out. When that is not your preferable shot, move around and look for a spot where you can have a mountain or something in the background.

Casting but a slight shadow, the light on the day I took this shot is in a sense the best light for photography, not only is it soft and full without creating much shadow, it also beautifully expresses the bird’s coloring. The light is just right to capture a catch light in the eyes and to create a good contrast, enabling me to get a beautiful shot of this Meadow Bunting.

It was a clear day but the spot where the Eurasian Bullfinch had come to find food was in the shade of some big trees. When you look at the photo, you will see the sun shining in the background. The distance between the sunlit background and the bird creates a strong contrast, but if it had been closer, it would have been very difficult to get the shot. If I had taken the shot on the automatic shooting mode, the bird would be very dark. And if I had adjusted the exposure, the surroundings would have been washed out, making for a very uninteresting photo. You could say that a dark background is better for shooting.

A Ruddy Kingfisher came to this watering place in the forest. The forest becomes dark on a cloudy day, but when the bright sunlight shines in you can really capture a bird’s coloring beautifully.

This photo looks as if it was shot with the white balance setting to the Auto. Since camera shake is a concern when it’s dark, you want to increase the ISO speed and use a fast shutter speed. And be careful not to make it brighter than necessary since that will take away from the mood of the sunset.

The sun was gone so I stopped shooting and was starting to head out when I spotted a Golden Eagle sitting at the top of a tree along the road. I hurried to find a spot where I could get the moon in the shot, and finally got one shot with the moon just inside the frame. Since I wanted to emphasize the brightness of the moon, I made the eagle a silhouette. The sun had gone down, but since there were no clouds I was able to express the clearness of the sky. The white balance setting was daylight.

The young wheat shines with the backlight. The beautiful rows of wheat by themselves would make a nice landscape photo. I spotted a single Black Kite in the field. Normally I would get closer and take a bigger shot, but it was good keeping the bird small within this scene. To make the young wheat shine as beautifully as possible with the transmitted light, I positioned the shot vertically and placed the silhouette of the Black Kite on top of the shining rows.

The best part of shooting Greater White-fronted Geese is when the birds fly out in the morning and return in the evening. When the sun is not at least partially covered by clouds, it is quite often impossible to put the morning sun or the evening sun in the frame because it is too bright. However, not only does the sun become red when it is behind some thin clouds, you can zoom in with a super telephoto lens. Since there are so few opportunities to get this kind of shot. I pray while shooting each time. But, this time I was lucky and able to get a shot just at the moment when a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese flew in front of the sun. I metered the light beside the sun and adjusted the setting to make the geese become silhouettes and the color around the sun come out beautifully.

Some Greater White-fronted geese took flight above a lake, when the sun was shining brightly. I took continuous shots since they were flying toward me in exactly the right path. What I had to be really careful of for this shot was to absolutely not look directly at the sun in the viewfinder. Since sustained viewing of the sun, even the morning or evening sun, with a super telephoto lens can really damage your eyes, it’s best to close your eyes before you feel the glare and leave the focusing to the camera.