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Backyard Bird Photography

Backyard bird photography is a great way to get some wonderful images because you have control over the environment you are shooting in.

The longest focal length lenses are not always neccessary as you can set up perches to be closer.

Place Food and Water to Get the Best Light

To attract subjects for backyard bird photography you’ll need to provide food and water. Where you place it can make all the difference between getting mediocre shots and getting fantastic shots suitable for framing.

Carefully consider the direction of the light coming into your backyard. Remember that you’ll get the best front-lit shots in the golden light just after sunrise and just before sunset. The ideal scenario is to have two sets of feeders. They should be positioned so that whether the sun is rising in the east or setting in the west you will always be able to face one set with the sun on your back. This means that at sunrise you will be facing west and at sunset you will be facing east.

I like to remember this by trying to always face the same direction as my shadow which should be longer than me when the lighting is right.

Make Sure That You Have the best Background

The next thing you should consider is what’s immediately behind the feeders. You are trying to make sure that the background isn’t distracting – many a good shot of a bird gets ruined by a cluttered background.

Try to make sure that whatever is behind is fairly uniform in color without any parts that are brighter or darker. Ideally the background will be at least 10 feet away so that it can be rendered nice and soft by using a small depth of field.

Select the Best Perches

Your feeders are now in place for backyard bird photography; they’re bathed in a beautiful golden light at sunrise / sunset and in front of a clean uncluttered background. The final ingredient is providing some nice looking perches for the birds to sit on before and after feeding. This gives you the opportunity to photograph them on the feeders and on natural looking perches during any of your garden bird photography sessions.

It’s important for the perches to look natural and interesting. I’ve seen many a good backyard bird photography setup ruined by selecting horrible perches!

To find suitable perches just go for a walk in the woods or along a beach and look for branches on the floor, dead trees, drift-wood etc. Keep an eye out for interesting colors and textures and avoid ones that are light in color as they can be distracting, especially on bright days.

Try to use perches that have no obvious marks where twigs or branches have broken off or where the end has snapped off. Sometimes these imperfections can be hidden on the rear side of the perch out of view of the camera.

Also make sure that the perch isn’t too big for the birds that you’re photographing - you don’t want the perch to become the main subject of the photograph rather than the bird.

A good technique is hollowing out part of a branch and filling it with seed or peanut butter. This encourages the bird to stay on the perch to feed but conceals feed from the photograph.

Provide Water For Drinking and Bathing

Providing drinking water and bathing water as part of your backyard bird photography setup will also help to attract birds to your backyard. By doing this you will attract other species that come to bathe and don’t necessarily come to feed.

Make sure to erect a perch close to or above the water for the birds to land on before or after drinking or bathing. One thing that works really well is slow dripping water – they hear the water and are attracted to it. This is one of my favorite backyard bird photography tips.

Ground Feeding Birds

Some birds feed on the ground. For these you don't always need perches. If you shoot from low down you can get a nice effect with birds on the ground.

I wouldn't recommend encouraging this if you have cats in the area. The birds will be a much easier target on the ground.

If you are trying to setup for backyard bird photography it makes sense to discourage cats from entering your backyard.

I use a motion detecting device that emits a harmless sound that cats avoid. It's not cheap but it works and the birds are much more confident of staying in the backyard.

Try Shooting through a Window

Another technique that works well is to shoot through an open window in your house, especially when it’s cold. This gives you a lot of flexibility and a warm, dry place to wait for the perfect shot. I usually hang a piece of camouflage netting over the window so that I don’t need to worry about sudden movements frightening any birds away.

Conceal Yourself

I find I get better opportunities if I conceal myself. It is possible to keep still and move slowly and not scare some of the more tame birds away, but if you’re concealed you’ll get far more opportunities – the nervous birds as well as the tame ones.

Try using fill flash

If the lighting isn’t particularly good in your backyard or if it’s good at sunrise but poor at sunset or vice-versa you should have a go at using fill flash. Some wonderful results can be achieved because when done correctly it can fill in shadows, improve the colors and provide a catch-light in the eye of the bird.

Try Remote Controlling Your Camera

A great way to get even closer to the birds is to put your camera close to the perch and use a remote shutter release while you are much further away. If you do this you will need to pre-focus on the perch and then wait for a bird to land in the right spot.

Even better is if your camera has live view. This allows you to view what your camera sees from a computer screen, focus and take the shot when you’re ready. I have quite a lot of success with this and often do it while I’m sitting at my computer processing my photos.

A Word of Caution

The welfare of the birds is more important than any photograph. Following the following points will keep the welfare of the birds your top priority.

Clean your feeders and water containers on a regular basis. Because a lot of different birds visit feeders on a regular basis, a lack of cleanliness can spread avian diseases.
Make sure that when you position your feeders they’re in safe locations that make it difficult for cats to get to them.