Page 86 - World of Animals - Issue #33

Wildlife photography

Top 5 tips for

photographing birds

Easy tricks to use today to take your bird images to the next level,

with advice on lenses, settings, focusing and more

Pick the right kit
Perfect your settings
Select your lighting

Bird photography can be very rewarding,
especially when you manage to capture
a species you’ve never spotted before.
It’s also a great way to practice your
photography, as it’s a subject most of us
have access to. Whether that’s through
birds in our garden, or by visiting a nature
reserve, birds are all around us. You could
even try heading to your local wildlife
park to photograph raptors or more
exotic species.
However, bird photography is not
without its challenges, most notably just
how patient you need to be. Often you
have to find the right position, wait for the

bird to come to just the right spot, and
wait for just the right lighting, which can
take hours. Patience can pay off, though,
and with the following tips you will come
away with your best ever photos.
Leaving some
room for the bird to
look into creates a
stronger composition

Choose your lens
Three options for optics that will help you get in closer to the action

Want to know
more?
Rob Read from Bird
Photographer of the Year
gives us his top tips for
attracting birds to your garden.
AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 SP Canon EF 400mm F5.6L USM See these at animalanswers.
f/5.6E ED VR Di VC USD One of Canon’s cheapest super-
This lens (www.nikon.co.uk, RRP A flexible choice for those on a budget, telephoto lenses, the 400mm f5.6 (www. co.uk or visit www.birdpoty.

£1,179.99/$1399.95) goes up to a 500mm especially when teamed with a canon.co.uk RRP £1,350/$1,340) is co.uk to find out more about
focal length to let you get in really close and teleconverter, this lens (www.tamron.eu considerably cheaper than its 2.8 version Bird Photographer
vibration reduction to help with shake when street price £239/approx $341) features an but still gives you good reach. The lens is of the Year
using this longer length. Ultrasonic Silent Drive mechanism. lightweight but still rather solidly built.
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