Bird Photography Methods – Page 47 – Feathered Photography

American Kestrel In Fog

Images of birds in fog often have a unique mood and “feel”. The tendency of many photographers is to attempt to minimize the effects of the fog during processing but I try to resist that temptation and let the image sink or swim on its true merits.

Fog tends to reduce detail and color saturation and causes the subject to appear slightly overexposed. It also often results in high key backgrounds. Some of those effects can be reduced by increasing contrast/saturation during processing but then you are losing the mood provided by the fog in the first place. All I’ve done with this image is crop and sharpen.

Burrowing Owl In Dramatic Side Light

As every photographer knows, light angle can make or break an image. In static portrait shots especially, partial side lighting (at perhaps 45 degrees to your subject) emphasizes texture, patterns and shapes and helps to separate subject from background. It’s been said that side light “sculpts” your subject.

Three Burrowing Owls and More Challenges With Depth Of Field

I’d been photographing a family of these birds for several weeks but typical of the species they were usually on the ground with obstructing vegetation in front of them or buried too deeply in the sagebrush. But as I approached them on this early August morning (in my pickup, from the road) there were two juveniles and one adult perched high on the sagebrush in nice warm light and there was a clean, pleasing background. My little heart went pit-a-pat at the opportunity but then I had to deal with the harsh reality of depth of field.

Red-tailed Hawk – Another Optical Illusion

Raptor landing shots are one of my most difficult photographic challenges and I attempt them every reasonable chance I get. This one turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, at least from a photographer’s point of view.

Anticipating Raptor Take-off

I’ve said before that one of the skills that can be of immense value to the bird photographer (and of interest to birders of every persuasion) is the ability to predict the behavior of your subject and one of those behaviors that can be of most value to predict is take-off.

Some Recent Shots To Break A Bird Photographer’s Heart

Occasionally I just have to vent about some of my photography frustrations.

Every nature photographer has them. Landscape photogs spend countless hours waiting for just the right light and dramatic clouds which often never materialize, those specializing in wildlife (especially mammals) often cannot even find their subjects, macro nature photographers have to deal with slight breezes that can ruin their shots and those who focus on flowers have a limited season.

But bird photographers may have the most challenging subjects of all (perhaps my bias is creeping in here, but I doubt it).

Cliff Swallow In Flight

For years I tried to photograph swallows in flight, usually without much strategy – just shooting them wherever I might find them. That typically meant while they were freely flying overhead or buzzing the surface of a pond or stream as they picked off insects and it always meant failure on my part. They’re just too fast, too small and too maneuverable for my autofocus and reflexes.

Then one day I decided to change strategies…

Owl Head-on Flight Shots Don’t Have To Be Baited

Head-on flight shots of owls have often been baited using live, store-bought mice. I’m of the opinion that baiting raptors is not only unethical (a debate I’d prefer to not get into here) but unnecessary for those kinds of images. However they typically require patience, intimate knowledge of the subject, a keen eye for interpreting behavior and even a little luck.

Avocet Wing-stretch – A Predictor Of Behavior

In my experience American Avocets have two primary “styles” of stretching. When they stretch a single wing they extend it to the side with one leg stretched out behind. But they also use what’s called the “two wing stretch” and this style is often a precursor of imminent behavior – takeoff.

Hummingbirds, Butterflies And Rocky Mountain Bee Plant

Yesterday morning on Antelope Island hummingbirds were buzzing frantically over clumps of Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, a species of Cleome that produces copious amounts of nectar so it attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and wasps. All four were present. As a biologist I enjoyed watching the natural processes at work here. The long, showy pollen tipped stamens and deeply buried nectar, when combined with the long bill of the bird, are the perfect combination to suit some of the biological needs of each species. The hummers were often covered with pollen.

Wildlife Photography While Pulling A Trailer Isn’t Easy

When we leave one of our favorite Montana camping spots for the long drive home it means almost 30 miles of extremely dusty dirt/gravel roads through prime bird and wildlife habitat before we hit pavement. We nearly always leave at sunrise in case there are photo opportunities on the way out – typically those opportunities include raptors on posts, poles or in flight, songbirds, elk, deer, pronghorn – even badgers.

If the roads are good (as they are this year) that drive takes at least an hour when I’m pulling my camping trailer but if we find wildlife, as we often do, it can take two hours or more. And believe me, photographing wildlife while you’re pulling a trailer is a bit of a challenge.

Green-tailed Towhee

As I mentioned on this blog a couple of months ago I’ve been after quality images of the Green-tailed Towhee for years but they’ve always eluded me. This species has a special place in my heart and memory because it was my field project study species back in 1969 when I took a college ornithology class at the University of Utah from the legendary Dr. William H. Behle. That class provided the inspiration for my almost life-long love of birds. I’ve been trying to get some nice images of them for years now but their secretive nature and my bad luck always got in the way.

A Black-headed Grosbeak, The Canon 7D And A Rookie Mistake

I found this male Black-headed Grosbeak foraging in a tree near a Montana mountain lake on my recent camping trip up there. The setting is a little cluttered but to my eye it’s an attractive clutter.

Swainson’s Hawk In Full Flight

In Montana (and elsewhere I presume) orange paint on fence posts is used to mark private property and prevent trespass and hunting without permission on private lands. Apparently some land owners are color blind and use red paint instead of orange but the universally understood message is still the same – stay out!

Not all of the posts are so-marked (perhaps 10%?) but the birds I photograph sure have a nasty habit of choosing those ugly posts to perch on when I’m trying to photograph them. Such was the case with this Swainson’s Hawk a few days ago in western Montana.

Why The Cloning Tool Can Be Such A Temptress

This Red-tailed Hawk image from last week in Montana is an example of what I’m nearly always hoping to get when I’m on a perched raptor while it’s facing away from me and about to take off. 99+% of the time all you’ll get is a butt shot but if you’re extremely (and I do mean extremely) lucky you’ll get a nice look back from the bird as it banks, a widely flared and beautiful tail, good light on the entire dorsal surface, light in the eye and maybe even something interesting in the background other than featureless sky. And this time there was the bonus of a small falling feather below the left foot (something I like but others may find distracting).

Category: Bird Photography Methods