Bird photography is something I’m really trying to get a hang of, and I wanted tips on how to pick a lovely composition for the bird, ideal light settings, etc. I’m hoping to improve, since my earlier photographs were nothing but record shots and one could barely identify the bird in them. iNat and iNat Forum is absolutely full of super cool experts/enthusiasts and I’m rather desperate to get some inputs!
Also, my first time creating a topic, so I hope I’ve filled in all the necessities!
Hi! Amateur bird photographer here!
My top tips are to shoot in RAW (if possible on your camera) this allows you to increase your shudder speed + ISO because you can lighten the image and denoise in post. I also recommend using single point auto focus, (at least on my camera this works best for animals). Have the fastest shutter speed lighting allows, especially if you want in flight shots. I recommend having your camera on continuous shutter release. And lastly use a zoom of 300mm minimum so you can take pictures without scaring the birds! (If I missed anything please let me know) it might help to say what camera and lens you’re using.
Well, I’m certainly no expert myself, but here are some things I’ve found really useful:
• Try shooting during the “golden hours” — early morning or late evening — or on cloudy days, which are my personal favorite. If you’re photographing in morning or evening light, having the sun behind you usually gives cleaner results. Shooting toward the sun can create silhouettes, which can be nice in their own way.
• Most telephoto lenses aren’t at their sharpest wide open (for example, at f/4 or f/5.6). If your lens opens to f/5.6, you’ll often get noticeably sharper images around f/8, though you’ll lose some light.
• Don’t hesitate to raise your ISO to keep your shutter speed high, especially for birds in flight. Noise can be reduced with modern denoising software, but motion blur can’t be fixed once it’s in the photo.
• Whenever possible, get to eye level with the bird. Avoid shooting from far above or below — matching the bird’s perspective makes the image feel more immersive and natural.
• If you’re comfortable with it, don’t shy away from editing your photos. It’s a controversial topic and people have different opinions, but cameras often misjudge lighting and color. Editing can help bring the image closer to how you actually saw the scene.
And as always with bird photography, patience is essential. I’ve spent half a day waiting for birds to land in a good spot and still gone home empty‑handed. It’s almost always easier when the bird approaches you rather than the other way around. One of the most helpful things for me has been talking with other photographers and watching YouTube videos on the subject.
Here are two excellent bird‑photography channels with hundreds of helpful videos:
https://m.youtube.com/@jan_wegener/videos
(see also https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL339bf4mAcMfqIv9ESUbNX28QN00QkzDh)
https://m.youtube.com/@Duade/videos
(see also https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLftsgqGE1dmZxhtCV5LragNN5VtkoyZOW)
I especially enjoy the latter’s videos — they’re incredibly helpful and engaging. Hope this helps!
Hi, firstly thank you for the tips! In flight photography is definitely on my list of target photographs and yes, I have no choice but to keep the lens zoom ~300mm as you mentioned, since I’ve scared away too many birds without realizing it!
Clicking RAW images is also great advice for me, since I do get confused fairly often. And the only problem with continuous shots for me is that I can’t pick which one to keep and which one to delete!
As for the camera, I’m currently using a point and shoot, a Nikon p1100, and experimenting on the modes..
Thanks for the ideas again! happy birding :)
Hi, thank you so much! I’ll watch the videos for sure, because editing photos is something I’ve kept a distance from until now… Turns out, pretty much every one processes their photographs 
I do want to get the really nice eye-level shots for which I suppose I am going to have to lay flat on the ground at some point..!
I usually keep the ISO auto and adjust the shutterspeed according to the light, but one of my current struggles does include noise. As for now, I did try using the Nikon NX studio software, which does have a pretty neat denoise option which I’m trying to get used to.
And yes, I agree patience is definitely necessary, not just for birds but all sorts of wildlife because they’ll show up only when they want to :)
Really useful tips, thanks again!!
There’s a lot of great advice above, so I’ll just confine myself to one tip. If you’ve got the opportunity, get yourself to a city park. The birds there are likely to be more comfortable with human interaction and therefore less skittish than those in rural areas.
Obviously, it depends on what birds you want to photograph and there will be species that you can’t see in the park. But, if nothing else, it’s a great way to practice.
Patience and learning to live with the one that got away.
For those eye level shots where you are having to lay on the ground - One idea I got in the forum (my apologies to whoever made the suggestion, I couldn’t readily find it to give you the credit) - you can buy smallish sheets of Tyvex online for a fairly reasonable price - it weighs next to nothing, keeps you dry and clean (and is really sturdy and unlikely to tear if you have to use it on pavement, small gravel, twigs, etc), and the sheet shakes clean when you are done.
I agree with going to community parks if available. When I go somewhere, I always start the visit by trying to look for spots where people are ‘supposed to be’ (in their cars, at picnic tables, on a popular section of beach, etc.) and spend some time just being in that spot, as still as possible, and let the birds come to me. It won’t get you all the species in the area, but a surprising number will come back to you after 5-10 minutes. Make smooth, slow movements, and you can get pics of quite a few birds that way.