Learn about Bird Photography

Another means of studying birds which some people employ with much pleas­ure is to photograph them. All kinds of outfits may be used, from the ordinary focusing camera with an ordinary lens up to the most expensive reflex camera with the best kind of lens. As birds are small, the camera must be placed near in order to get an image of sufficient size, and hence the camera must be provided with a long draw of bellows and a long­focus lens.

In order that the birds may come near enough to the camera so that a satisfactory picture may be secured, it is usually necessary to work the shutter from a distance.

One of the simplest methods is to use a spool of linen thread. The thread is fastened to the shutter and then this may be worked by pull­ing the thread from any desired distance. Sometimes birds will become so tame that one may stand by the camera and take pictures, as when photographing from inside the window birds feeding on a window­sill.

The two best seasons for photographing birds are the spring and summer, when the birds are nesting, and the winter, when they come to eat food pro­vided for them. If one attracts birds around his home, he will find many opportunities for photo­graphing them. The birds that use nesting-boxes become tame and may easily be photographed after the young are hatched, as the parents enter and leave the box.

One may watch the birds to see how they approach and where they usually alight, and then the camera may be focused on this spot, and when the bird is in the right position, the thread may be pulled.

Likewise, the winter birds become very tame, coming to the window shelf for food, and the camera may be set up just inside the window and the picture taken through the window-pane. A little patience will often enable one to secure a picture of a bird feeding from the hand. During one winter the au­thor was able to secure pictures of the nine following species: chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, brown creeper, blue jay, hermit thrush, myrtle warbler, junco, and song sparrow. Pictures of all except the junco were obtained at the window­sill. Pictures of the chickadee feeding from the hand were secured.

Besides these pictures of birds that nest in boxes there will be many opportunities of photographing the nests and eggs of other birds and the parents feeding their young.

Many people are now using the camera instead of the gun, and it is found that the use of the camera requires much more skill and patience than the use of the gun, and gives one more pleasure and does no harm to the birds. For this kind of hunting there is no closed season.

bird photography - Yahoo! News Search Results
bird photography - Yahoo! News Search Results

Galt bird festival a prime destination for photographers
Bird watching and bird photography are popular in Central California, not just because they're fun but because our valleys are one of the nation's largest wintering grounds for migratory and resident birds.
Charlie MacPherson to present slideshow on wildlife photography at Paskamanse...
DARTMOUTH ? The Paskamansett Bird Club's monthly meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the community hall of Friends Meeting, 739 Horseneck Road, South Dartmouth. Charlie MacPherson will present a slideshow on wildlife...
Bird flu case surfaces in Bhubaneswar
Odisha has banned the movement of poultry and related products from an area in the capital Bhubaneswar after a bird flu case surfaced in the city, an official said Saturday.
Wildling Museum Hosts Photography Contest
The Los Olivos museum will be accepting bird photo submissions through March.
Photographer to address club
The Paskamansett Bird Club's monthly meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the community hall of Friends Meeting, 739 Horseneck Road, South Dartmouth.
Solar-Storm-Fueled Auroras Make for Awesome Backyard Photography
The sun is waking up. After several quiet years, it bombarded the Earth with a one-two punch of solar storms this week, which generated consecutive nights of spectacular auroras.
Eagles: the latest photography assistants
IF YOU want to capture a flock of barnacle geese in flight, a telephoto lens is just so passé. It certainly wouldn?t give the sort of views achieved on Earthflight, the BBC series currently halfway through its run.
New event added to Galt Winter Bird Festival
Organizers of the Galt Winter Bird Festival have just announced the addition of a new event.
Photography club members exhibit sophisticated work
ArtSpring lobby show on through January exhibiting images from club which continues to grow in membership
For a stunning bird?s eye view, launch a kite (or a balloon)
Michael Layefsky?s passion for aerial photography was born one day in 1997 when he was taking one of his customary walks on the UC Berkeley campus and he came across ?this guy flying a humongous kite on the big lawn in front of the library?. The ?guy? turned out to be Cal architecture professor Cris Benton, an early adopter of kite aerial photography, whose stunning work can be viewed on his ...