Birds are a special theme or subject in the universe of wildlife photography, and many of us have at least once shot a frame of a bird, even if they look terrible due to limited gear and poor skills.
And since birds have been a subject that has thrilled a lot of photographers no matter what, we want to share with you today 3 free guides that will help embrace this journey so your bird photography can really soar.
Getting Started in Bird Photography
First thing's first, so you should read this guide before the other two in order to get a grasp of the nuts and bolts of the world you are about to enter.
In this guide, Tobie Schalkwyk shares with us a lot of information that is extremely valuable.
From how to prepare yourselves to some gear related tips and tricks, this is a great way to start for anyone interested in bird photography. Bird watchers, you are going to love this.
Starting Bird Photography: Camera Settings
After getting such a wonderful introduction to Bird Photography from Tobie Schalkwyk, you'll want to know some really useful tips for capturing all your beloved birds with your camera.
In this guide (which is literally a continuation from Getting Started in Bird Photography) Tobie teaches us about various camera settings beyond exposure. All these secrets are given for free in this guide… which is just awesome.
Here is a brief list of some of the settings he talks about in this guide:
- Diopter adjustment
- Image recording format
- Metering mode
- White Balance (WB)
- Highlight indicator
- Color space
- Active D-Lighting
- Auto ISO sensitivity control
- Focus tracking with lock-on
- AF point illumination
- Number of focus points
- ISO sensitivity step value
- Setting Back Button focus
Even if you are not a bird photography enthusiast, this guide will be very useful in understanding all the aforementioned settings.
Telephoto Lenses – Free Quick Guide
There is basically no possible way to capture stunning bird photography without a powerful telephoto lens, therefore it seems quite logical for us to show you something about telephoto lenses as a closure to this thread.
In this guide, Robin Nichols talks extensively about one of the most popular and aggressive looking lenses of all, the almighty telephoto lens, and we are talking about the ones that could cause you some back pain after a whole day of shooting with them, that's why you should also consider a tripod if you are getting into bird photography.
Getting a great photograph of a bird is one of the most satisfying things you could experience in photography. In order to achieve magnificent pictures of birds, you will need to master composition and exposure as well.
BUT… there is one thing that you need to have in order to capture the most beautiful bird photographs ever, and that is patience, a lot of patience.