PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS - I OBSERVE YOUR SUBJECT

Saturday, November 18, 2006

+Continued at Photographing Birds II - Get the right equipment

For those who have observed them, birds have always been a fascination. They are a delight to photograph. They make photogenic subjects because of the vivid colors some birds possess, or because of the beautiful shapes they make in flight or by the way they gel with the nature surrounding them. This is a multi-part series on photographing birds in nature, where I try to cover on the necessary equipment, preparations and how to go about shooting them.

THE BEGINNING: OBSERVE YOUR SUBJECT

It is necessary for a photographer to know and get familiar with his subject, regardless of the kind of subject he is shooting. This applies all the more to birds, due to their agility and unpredictability. They tend to be shy and least co-operative subjects, making shooting them difficult. Knowing the bird's behavior is necessary to imagine photographing possibilities, to make compositions and also to predict the right moment to shoot. Before photographing a bird, it helps to observe the bird and try to understand its behavior as much as possible. The more you observe the bird, more likely that you can understand and predict their behavior, and more likely that you can make a good shot.

When it comes to observing the subject, I am reminded of TNA Perumal, a professional wildlife photographer from my city. He talks about spending nearly three weeks observing an owl and trying to work on some shots. Finally, he came back with a perfectly sharp and properly focused image of the owl in flight with a mouse in its beak, an amazing photograph by any standard. Ofcourse, most of us may not be able to spend several weeks watching a bird, but the longer you spend with the subject, more likely you make better images.



Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 100-400L at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200

Coppersmith Barbets are not very shy and they don't run away on your approach. But they are very agile and hardly sit still at any place. Since they keep moving, it is difficult to focus and get them, and it is even difficult to get them in good position and light. I spent a lot of tailing this bird, before managing to catch it in the frame.

To be continued..