Safari in your back garden
The common birds on your doorstep are more beautiful than you might think
01 Hang your feeders on interesting sticks
USE dead branches with moss or other nice features to hang your feeders, and add twigs as perches. Create a setting where unwanted elements can be cropped out. Drill holes behind your branch, or under moss, to hide seeds and nuts. Seeds can cause feeding fights – which equal wonderful action shots.
02 Use your house or shed as a hide
Birds and wildlife are always looking for threats. A shed with a window or a spot in your house overlooking the garden can make you invisible. Clean any glass, and check double glazing is not misted up. Turn lights off and close blinds to hide interior reflections, and don’t shoot directly into the sun.
03 Use remote flash to freeze action
dslr flashes fire fast enough to catch fight and flight. You don’t have to use Canon Speedlite 600EX-RTS – second-hand units and cheaper brands work well. Position them for lighting on all sides, and try working with manual flash on different settings or with High Speed Sync. Bright sun and flash don’t always work well, so overcast days are perfect for this method.
04 Beautiful butterflies
Try To get to a butterfly location early in the morning. Useful lenses are the 70-200mm, 500mm and the 100mm Macro if you can get close, though the 100-400mm Mk II, with its close minimum focusing distance, is superb. Try to find a pleasing framing device such as a flower to set off the butterfly. Telephoto lenses work well, shot wide open, to blur the background and make the butterfly stand out.
05 shoot in manual and try different focus settings
My eos-1d X with its very fast AF, is perfect for garden birds. Most Canon DSLRS have very capable AF and it’s worth getting to know all the settings, but make sure the exposure is right so that birds aren’t over or underexposed. Birds with white on their body and wings need particular care not to blow highlights.