By: Gary & Janice Carter

A BIT OF BIRD HISTORY:
There are about 10,000 species of birds and only a very small number of people in the world have seen more than 7000 species. The first recorded use of the term birdwatcher was in 1891. Number of birdwatchers today is unknown –estimates have been over 2 million birders. Unknown number of bird publications (books, magazines, articles, calendars, etc.).

BIRDS IN THE BIBLE
Genesis 7:3 Noah took birds of the sky on the ark Genesis 8:8 - Noah sent a dove out from the ark Job 12:7 But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you. (These are just a few of many references of birds in the Bible)

DID YOU KNOW SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) WROTE ABOUT BIRDS?
He wrote more about birds than any other poet. He includes the blackbird, bunting, chough, cock, cormorant, crow, cuckoo, daw, dive-dapper, dove, duck, eagle, falcon, finch, fowl, goose, guinea hen, hedge sparrow, heron, jay, kestrel, kingfisher, kite, lapwing, lark, loon, magpie, mallard, martin, nightingale, osprey, ostrich, owl, parquet, parrot, partridge, peacock, pelican, pheasant, phoenix, pigeon, popinjay, quail, raven, rook, sea gull, snipe, sparrow, starling, swallow, swan, thrush, turkey, vulture, woodcock, and wren.

BIRDS IN CULTURE, RELIGION, ART, ETC.
Birds have been featured in culture and art since prehistoric times, when they were represented in early cave paintings. Birds were later used in religious or symbolic art and design, such as the magnificent Peacock Throne of the Mughal and Persian emperors. With the advent of scientific interest in birds, many paintings of birds were commissioned for books. Among the most famous of these bird artists was John James Audubon, whose paintings of North American birds were a great commercial success in Europe and who later lent his name to the National Audubon Society. Perceptions of various bird species often vary across cultures. Owls are associated with bad luck, witchcraft, and death in parts of Africa, but are regarded as wise across much of Europe. Hoopoes were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia, but were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.

Many species of birds are hunted for food, meat and feathers.

Bird hunting is primarily a recreational activity except in extremely undeveloped areas. The most important birds hunted in North and South America are waterfowl. Other widely hunted birds include pheasants, wild turkeys, quail, doves, partridge, grouse, snipe, and woodcock.

The world’s oldest known bird is the skeletal remains of Aurornis xui date to the Middle to Late Jurassic period (million years ago).
WHO WAS THE FIRST BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER? I don’t know – perhaps it was one of you. Most of the earlier photographers of the 1800’s where landscape, civil war and people photographers. If anyone knows whom the first bird photographer was, please let me know.
Bird Photography Today - Birds offer many hours of enjoyment either by watching them or listening to their songs, but it’s not easy to photograph them. Wild birds usually don’t pose where you want them too and it’s often difficult to get close enough to take good photographs. But, if you know some basics of birds and photography, it becomes much easier to capture good bird images.

Some basic ways to photograph birds is to provide habitat for the birds.
Birds need the same three things we need to survive:
1- FOOD
2- WATER
3- COVER OR HOUSING

Sometimes birds will come surprisingly close when you put out some food and be patient and wait for the birds to come to you! Some birds are courageous or so busy they will let you get close enough to photograph them. Once the bird appears work slowly and don’t make a sudden movement to frighten the bird off.

Stalking Birds will sometimes works, but most of the time be prepared for the bird to go flying off when you get close. I really don’t recommend stalking.

One of the best ways to photograph birds is by using Blinds Or Hides. When photographing shy birds or wanting a small bird to come very close for a quality photo a blind is usually the best technique. Commercial blinds are readily available or you may decide to build a blind from surrounding materials or use a building you already have, like your house.

Also put some food where you want the birds to come. Sunflower’s seeds are the best food in most cases.

If you want the bird to sit on a limb or perch, place it above or near the food. Be patient, it may take a few days for the birds to get use to the blind and you photographing from the blind.

Your Vehicle As A Blind
In many locations, birds are more accustomed to vehicles and will often consider them less of a threat than you walking toward them. I’ve used my vehicle as a mobile blind on many occasions. I've found that it doesn't take long for the birds to accept your presence. Be sure to park legally and make sure you pull off to the side so others can get around you – don’t block the road. The idea is to be considerate of others using the area. With the engine turned off, your vehicle provides a stable platform. I've often found that I can steady a long lens just by using a beanbag on the window’s doorframe. You'd be amazed at the stability. There are also a variety of commercially available camera mounts made specifically for holding your lens and camera on vehicle windows/doors.

Photographing Waterfowl
Waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans) make interesting subjects and you can find them in city parks, rivers, ponds, lakes, the seacoast, and wildlife preserves. Many ducks and geese that frequent parks are more tolerant of people and should provide some good opportunities to get close.

When photographing SHORE BIRDS
Get down low or lay down on the beach so you’ll be eye-level.
Be patient and let the bird (s) come to you. Most of the time they are feeding or walking right along the shoreline. Watch for some action to occur between the birds or the surf and waves. Flight shots (technic) will be the same as for other birds. Rookeries are great places to photograph many shorebirds during nesting season.

Photographing Hawks, Eagles, and Owls
Hawks, Eagles, and Owls are birds of prey, and present a difficult challenge, because of their wary nature and keen eyesight. Sometimes these birds can be photographed from your vehicle. When trying to approach them for a photo, never walk directly at it, as they will most likely fly away. Instead, pretend you don’t see them, and head in a direction that will bring you closer to the bird without walking directly at it. Good photos of these birds will usually require a long telephoto lens due to the distance involved. Some of the best places to photograph these birds are at rehab centers, zoo’s, or birds of prey centers. Photographing them in the wild can be a real challenge.

Wild Turkeys and Other Game Birds
Wild turkeys and other game birds can be found near farms, wildlife parks and in many wooded areas of North America. These birds can move quickly if they sense danger, so you might want to wear camo or set up a blind (if allowed). Remember they have excellent eyesight and in most areas they are hunted.

Camera Equipment It’s not necessary to have the most expensive camera or lens. However, cameras and lens quality do differ and having the proper equipment makes life a lot easier when it comes to capturing images.

Most birds are quite shy and very small, so you need at least 200mm (300mm, 400mm, 500mm and 600mm are better) to take pictures of them. Longer focal length not only lets you photograph birds from longer distance, it also gives more blurred or out of focus background. However, the longer lenses with apertures of 2, 2.8 & F4 are more expensive, larger and heavier. Don’t overlook the many zoom lenses on the market today. Especially the 80-400, 100-400, 150-500’s with maximum aperture of f4, f5.6 or 6.3. Another option is the use of a teleconverter in the 1.4X range. If your lens allows the teleconverter to be mounted or attached and if your camera will still allow you to auto-focus at f8, which is usually the max for today’s cameras.

The many consumer cameras and some of the pro-consumer cameras (DSLR) max out their auto-focus capability at f5.6, then you have to manually focus the lens.

Choosing the Right Lens
In bird photography, almost all DSLR’S will do a good job. However, if you’re planning to photograph birds in flight, pay attention to fps (frames per second), high ISO (noise results) and AF (autofocus) system’s accuracy. If you don’t have a DSLR camera, then bird photography becomes a bit more difficult (especially due to slow AF (auto focus). Most point and shoot cameras and cellphones are not fast enough for this type of photography. However, many point and shoot cameras and cell phones have a good video chip built into them, which works pretty well for recording fast movement. When it comes to flight shots a good swing of your body in following the subject and proper holding of the camera and lens may be better for the smaller lens and many of the zoom lenses. The larger and heavy telephoto lens will need a tripod for support. Ball heads and gimbal heads make this much easier than the use of three way pan heads. Camera settings
It’s very important to know what settings to choose in certain situations to get the most from your camera. Exposure
In bird photography long focal length lenses are usually the norm, so it’s very important to use the fastest shutter speed possible, usually a minimum of 60th of second or faster. The rule of thumb is a shutter speed equal to the length of the lens you are using. This helps to prevent camera shake and blurry pictures. For example, if your lens focal length is 500mm, you need to set at least 1/500 of a second to get sharp images with a full-frame camera. If your camera has the smaller sensor (e.g. APS-C DSLR – with 1.2, 1.5 or 1.6 crop factor), you need to multiply millimeters of your lens by the crop factor. For example, using the same 500mm lens (500 x 1.6 = 800) 1/800 of a second for your shutter speed. Today, most AF lenses and digital cameras have some type of image stabilization (IS or VR) which helps when you’re either hand holding or in low light conditions. When using a tripod, of course, these rules to minimize camera shake may not apply. In fact, the manufacture of your equipment may advise not to use IS/VR when on a tripod. (Note: Remember IS/VR has to settle down before pressing the shutter button on your camera).

Aperture
As you know, aperture controls DOF (depth of field). This means, if you want a more blurred background, set the largest aperture on your lens (the smallest number such as f5.6). However, when using telephoto lens, some parts of the bird’s body may appear out of focus, so pay attention where exactly you are focusing (which should be around the bird’s eye). You may need to close down the aperture a bit to get enough DOF. I usually set my lens to f8 as a starting point. This will usually have the bird sharp from head to toe.

ISO
Use the lowest ISO setting that will allow you to capture the action of the bird. However, it’s much better to set ISO 800 or 1600 plus and get a sharp picture, than ISO 100, and get a blurry one. With today’s digital cameras don’t be afraid to set higher ISOs of 1600 to 3200 or even 6400 if needed. Some of the newer cameras have AUTO ISO settings that will set the ISO to match the focal length of the lens, along with the aperture for the lighting conditions.

When photographing birds, these camera settings usually work well
If you want to control aperture (depth of field), choose aperture priority mode. Shutter priority (speed) is useful when photographing birds in flight. If you know what aperture and shutter settings you need, manual mode will work. Remember the center focusing senor is the most accurate and fastest focusing sensor.

When photographing birds in flight try to focus on the birds when they are further out and follow them as they come closer. (Here I’ll use continuous focus and either 9 or 21 sensor points around the center sensor point). I also recommend shooting in RAW, because it gives you the most data to work with and later you can easily fix such things as WB (white balance) and exposure, etc. with the various developing program(s) available today.

Another consideration is the use of Fill Flash from hot shoe mounted flash units. You’ll need an off camera flash cords, a Better Beamer flash attachment, a good bracket to hold the flash unit above your lens or camera. I usually mount my flash unit 10-15 inches above the center of the lens.

The Image
Now, lets talk about the image itself. We have our equipment, we’ve set our camera settings, and we’ve chosen our location.

The best time for photographing is early morning or late afternoon because the light is soft and has a pleasant hue, shadows are not so distinct; it’s easier to get good detail from very bright and dark areas. However there are exceptions to the rule. TWO EXCEPTIONS TO TIME OF DAY - I photograph Hummingbirds during bright light and sometimes mid day. Why? – I want to get the highest shutter speed (1600-2500) to help stop action and I’ll use fill flash. 2- Time is not always on our side or we may not be able to shoot early and late. I’d rather get the image than miss getting it. I can usually work on the image in various development programs.

Composition
Leave some space in the direction the bird is looking or flying. Remember the Rule of Thirds. Also try being eye-level to the bird as much as possible and remember to focus on the eye. Part of the bird can be out of focus, but the eye should be sharp.

Backgrounds
Try to avoid distracting or busy backgrounds that compete with the subject (not always possible).

Practice, Practice, Practice
A good place to start is your backyard. If you have bird feeders, you're halfway there. Set up a temporary or permanent blind close to the feeder. You don't have to always photograph the birds feeding or bathing either. Look around and see what birds are waiting to feed – you may find they offer you some excellent photographic results.

Ethics of bird photography
Birds are wonderful creatures. When you are taking photos, don’t harm them by stressing them out. I don’t recommend photographing birds near nests for any long periods of time. Even if you don’t harm the birds, doesn’t mean you’re not showing predators the nest. Avoid situations that put stress on your subject. If a bird is showing signs of stress; remove yourself as quickly as possible. They are under enough stress trying to find food, feeding young and watching for predators. The life of the bird is more important than a photo.

Get to Know Your Subjects
Invest in a good birding guide and learn as much as you can about the birds you’re photographing. Knowing a bird's feeding habits, breeding season and other behavioral characteristics will help you know where the birds might be located.

Always be ready
Sometimes the most perfect bird photo opportunities happen at the most random moments, so it’s important to always be ready. Always keep your lens on your camera, and have everything set up for a wildlife shot (exposure, aperture, ISO). That way, if a bird just happens to land on a branch right in front of you, you’ll be ready.

Other photography considerations are places especially developed and setup for photographers to photograph birds. These include:

The Pond at Elephant Head – Amado, AZ - phototrap@aol.com
South Texas Ranches – Valley Land Fund – McAllen, TX - valleylandfund.com
For Everything There Is A Season – Gary & Janice Carter – McLeansville, NC – www.garycarterphotos.com

Conclusion
Birds have been inspiring us for centuries. They thrill us with their mastery of flight and their immense diversity. Photographing birds requires patience and skill. If you are a beginner, try easier subjects like pigeons in the park or birds in the zoo before going out into the wild. Experiment with the shutter speed (faster and slower) until you know what will give you the effect you want. It’s also a good idea to be patient and let the birds come to you.

You won’t get the perfect shot every time you go out and photograph, but the challenge of doing so and making a good photo can be very rewarding.

“FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON”
Gary & Janice Carter
www.garycarterphotos.com