23 Striking Bird Photographs That Were Shot With A Good Understanding Of Light

Light is the basis for photography and photographers are constantly looking for the best light possible to photograph their subjects. If you are a photographer who will only shoot under brilliant light situations, then you are missing out on a lot. Imagine you are on a safari or travelling and if you confine yourself to only shooting during the golden hour, you will be missing on the beauty and stories that unfold during the rest of the day.

Handy Wing Freeze Shutter Speed Calculator

Species (typical wingbeat)

Choose a typical value or set a custom frequency below.

Wingbeat frequency (Hz)

Beats per second. Higher = faster wings.

Allowed wing motion during exposure (degrees of the beat)

Current: 30°

Lower degrees = crisper wings. 5–15° for tack sharp. 30–45° for natural motion. 60–90° for artistic blur.

Stabilization/IBIS/VR in use

Note: Stabilization reduces camera shake but does not freeze wing motion. It does not increase the wing-freeze shutter speed.

1/1000 s

Required shutter to keep wing motion within 30° at 15 Hz.

Exact: 1/943 s

Nearest standard: 1/1000 s

Formula: t = allowed_degrees / (360 × frequency). Use a faster shutter for extra safety or unpredictable motion.

And for your inspiration, here are 23 bird photographs there are shot with a good understanding of light.

Victoria crowned pigeon (Goura victoria) - Photo by Nitty Ditty

**Red Fody** (Foudia madagascariensis) - Photo by Rob Potter

Common Kingfisher (*Alcedo atthis*) - Photo by Jonny Gios

Siberian Stonechat ( *Saxicola maurus* ) - Photo by Harshit Suryawanshi

**Golden Pheasant** (*Chrysolophus pictus*) - Photo by David Clode

Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) - Photo by Tristan chatagny

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) - Photo by René Lehmkuhl

Laughing Dove, also known as the Palm Dove or Senegal Dove - Photo by Huzeyfe Turan

Light changes constantly throughout the day and if you observe carefully. it alters the mood of a scene as it changes. So, when you understand light and start using it, you will be able to alter the mood in your images or use a particular type of light to bring in a certain mood to your images. This eBook, "Understanding Light" by Photzy has 88 easy-to-follow pages packed with training, illustrations and assignments.

Mute Swan (*Cygnus olor*) - Photo by Hansjörg Rath

Red-bellied Woodpecker (*Melanerpes carolinus*) - Photo by Jeremy Hynes

**Cattle Egrets** (*Bubulcus ibis*) - Photo by Harshit Suryawanshi

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) - Photo by Anna-Lena Helbrecht

Grey Heron (*Ardea cinerea*) - Photo by René Lehmkuhl

Crested Serpent Eagle (*Spilornis cheela*) - Photo by Rohit Varma

King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) - Photo by Bob Brewer

When you understand light, you will be able to work around with the available light by either using reflectors or diffusers if necessary to change the intensity of light or to fill in areas where light is less. Understanding light is very interesting once you start to understand how it works and if you are worried where to start, check out this eBook "Understanding Light" by Photzy that will teach you about all the qualities of light and how to use them to your advantage.