Photography advice
In the first in a new series of articles, we reveal how to get the most out of bird photography
In this modern age of digital technology, it’s almost as common to see birders with an expensive DSLR and long lens as a pair of binoculars. While most seem to use photography as a way of recording what they see, there are those that take images to use online and in articles for magazines such as this.
The latest equipment features all sorts of technological advancements that simply blow your mind. For the last 10 years or so there has been no excuse not to take technically proficient images with little previous experience, hence the plethora of images available on the internet. It’s a far cry from the Dixons own-brand film SLR that my Dad bought me for my 16th birthday in the 1980s.
Yet certain photographers routinely stand out from the crowd. So, what makes their photography different and gets them noticed? I’ll try to give you an insight into a few of the techniques that result in more artistic images.
But firstly, an important point. While the latest equipment and technical magic provides an incredible advantage over the equipment of the past, it’s no guarantee of success. There’s no substitute for experience and knowledge.
Many of you reading this will already have that knowledge when it comes to birds, and that’s a great advantage.
To illustrate the point, I have been using the same camera as my main workhorse for the last six years. Those six years represent a technological chasm in terms of camera advancement, but the camera still does the job I want it to do and, most importantly, the image quality is superb. It won’t last forever, but I’ll wait for it to die before replacing it.
Knowledge of my subject is far more important than forking out £2,000-plus for a replacement that might autofocus that wee bit quicker or take another
2 or 3 frames per second.
My journey into wildlife photography began with taking what I’d describe as ‘literal’ photos – the sort of images that show all the features of the subject that might be needed for an ID guide, the very use to which many of them have been put. When photographing birds, I’d make sure I photographed them at a time of day when the light was bright, but not
too harsh, the sun was behind me to light the bird nicely and show its features, and the foreground and backgrounds were uncluttered, so as not to draw attention away from the subject.
But, frankly, this isn’t difficult to do with modern equipment. Given a basic knowledge of camera settings and how to employ suitable shutter speeds and apertures, I could have anyone producing publishable images with 10 minutes’ basic tuition. So, although this photograph of a Robin (above) is undoubtedly a nice picture and does the job it was designed to do, there are thousands like it out there.
However, it does demonstrate an important element of a good picture. The angle at which it is taken creates an emotional connection between subject and viewer – one of the most essential qualities in any picture. The people in my village are getting used to seeing the mad bloke with the camera lying on the ground, adopting all sorts of funny positions, getting covered in dirt, mud and worse! But getting down to eye level is the only way to get this pleasing composition and create the relationship with the subject for the viewer.
The word photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, and it is the understanding of light and how the camera captures it that opens a multitude of artistic avenues to those that master its control. Allow the camera to make all the decisions through the auto modes and you lose the ability to use light differently.
Controlling the exposure of light in an image can change the mood dramatically, and transform a ‘literal’ shot into something way more artistic and eye-catching.
Understanding how to control the input of light into the camera and predicting its resulting effect makes all the difference.
The Mute Swan is probably the easiest bird to photograph in the UK; common, accessible, large and confiding. As a result, there are billions of images of them, but they’re such an iconic and elegant bird that good images will always draw attention.
Artistically exploited
A lake local to me is ideally positioned to catch the rising sun, leaving the far bank in shade. The high contrast between the swan’s white plumage, as it drifts into the sunlight, against the backdrop of the shaded far bank can be exploited artistically. I massively underexposed this image (left) to accentuate the contrast, isolating the bird on a dark background as the sunlight hit it. Left to the camera’s own devices, it would have revealed far more detail in the shaded bank, the swan’s plumage most likely being overexposed and too white, resulting in a more literal, flat image. Note the low angle to create the intimacy and reflection we talked about before – yes, I was lying in the mud again.
Contrastingly, the image of a Great White Egret (above right) is deliberately overexposed. I was thrilled when a confiding individual took up residence on a pond in Hampshire. It habitually took to sitting in a dead tree once the dawn mist had burnt off. By allowing my camera to decide the exposure, the resulting image (above left) was a bit dull and boring. But if I overexposed the scene, I could turn the background white and the bird’s plumage would merge into it and create something much more impressionistic and appealing.
These two contrasting styles are known as ‘low-key’ and ‘high-key’, respectively, and are employed regularly by many of the wildlife photographers I admire. But there are other creative tricks, including the advantages of pointing the camera into the light, the use of movement and motion blur to convey drama, and using foliage and other out of focus elements, deliberately obscuring parts of an image to draw the eye to others. I’ll take a look at some of these in June’s Bird Watching.