In the first page of a new series to help those of you who want to get better bird images I am going to deal with composing your photographs. Composition will make or break an image and what you see and the way in which you see it is very important to your final result, of course lighting is another factor but I will deal with that in a later page of tips.
It is all to easy to get excited when a photo opportunity presents itself, you could easily get carried away and blast off loads of pictures only to be disappointed when you see the results, so the first thing to be aware of is what you want from your picture. One of the commonest mistakes is not thinking about your viewpoint, I have watched many camera users on the Farne islands and Skomer who set up a tripod and camera to full height when photographing the Puffins on the ground in front of them, just simply sitting on the ground and shooting from a lower viewpoint will improve you shots dramatically. Likewise shooting up at a bird perched high above you will also present an odd angle in the final photograph, so trying to shoot from a similar level to your subject is one of the best routes to better images.
Viewpoint to high
Being aware of the background is also of primary importance, for example a tangle of muddled branches behind the subject can lead to a confusing image; this can be managed by careful use of lens aperture to control depth of field (dof). A wide aperture, on long lenses this will be f4 or f5.6, will give shallow depth of field, throwing the background out of focus, a small aperture f11-f16 onwards will give you a sharper background. In most instances dof will be very important to the final photo, too little and you might well find that the entire subject is not sharply in focus, whereas too much and the subject will merge with the background leading to a messy picture. Understanding how to control depth of field will help you in all aspects of photography, using it wisely will centre attention on the main subject.
Messy Backgrounds
Changing your position slightly in relation to the subject could dramatically alter what is seen behind the bird and improve the image too. I have taken pictures where a big fuzzy blob of strong colour in the background has spoilt what would otherwise be a stunning shot, though with Photoshop or Paintshop Pro to help this is something that can be corrected after the taking stage.
Another common error is positioning the bird slap-bang in the middle of frame, all to often photos are taken with the birds eye at the dead centre of the picture and the tail being cut off at the edge of frame, being aware of what’s going on around the top bottom and sides of the picture is as important as what’s happening in the middle!
If you are using Auto focus try single shot A/F, focusing on the eye and reframing the bird before fully depressing the shutter. All pictures of animals, birds and people benefit from having the eyes in sharp focus, that is where we naturally look first!
Think about how you frame the shot.
Also in respect of framing the image it is not necessary for the bird to be huge in the picture, an impression of it’s habitat can add more interest in some cases, and look out for reflections with water birds, it will add to the picture if they are included.
Sometimes its best not to fill the frame.
If you intend to sell images to magazines framing is important as it will give the designer some room to crop the picture, or add text and titles to suit the publications needs. The old rule of thirds is as relevant now as it always has been, however rules can be broken to good creative effect.
Breaking the frame into thirds and placing key points of the subject near the intersecting lines is a handy guide to good composition.
A magazine may want to use the image differently to how you saw it.
Paying attention to the direction your subject is looking is another consideration with regard to how you place it in the frame; more space ahead, rather than behind the subject gives it room to “move” in the picture and makes for a more pleasing composition. Think about which way to hold the camera, whether to shoot in Landscape or Portrait format can make a big difference; I always think that three-quarter or front-on viewpoints work better in portrait but this might not always be the case depending on how much background you want in the shot, if in doubt try both!
Put more space in front of the bird.....
......and maybe turn the camera.
When it comes to reviewing your images try to be your harshest critic, look at the results and judge what has worked best and remember those criticisms next time you are out taking pictures, building a mental catalogue of what has and hasn’t worked will help you to improve the standard of your photography.
Click for Photographing birds in flight