Bird Photography Tips #1
You must acclimate to the location you are going to take pictures. Generally spending 30 minutes or so with no distractions sitting outside will get to that place. When I skip this step, I usually end up with very few sightings of anything.
If a bird wants its picture taken it will let you know, they tend to pose when they are ready. If the bird is staring straight at you, always turning its back to you, hoping away anytime you get close to a pic, and squawking it does not want its picture taken. You can keep trying, and it will not let you get a good angle. Also, it’s not nice as the bird is obviously not happy with you.
You may need to wait for a bird to present for a picture. They may come close and fly away, come closer, swoop, disappear for 15 minutes and then come back. I have found not pulling out my camera until the bird gets comfortable leads to amazing shots, and that can take a relatively long time (hours).
When a bird does present for a picture, understand that by getting the bird in focus, the bird will notice something. They may shift, look towards you, chirp: they know. Take your time brining into focus, breath, I even talk to the bird and thank it. I like to focus on the feet, as it seems to disturb them the least, and the defined textures are easy to focus on. If a bird seems very comfortable, I will focus on the whites of the eyes.
Keep breathing. When a bald eagle fly’s past your head the first time it’s easy to start hyperventilating and getting excited, which never leads to a good shot. I have found that with time, after witnessing many of the “big” action events in the air, I am now able to breath and keep my focus open, which amplifies the subtle and minute.