What do you think is a good recipe for beautiful headshots in Bird Photography? I can think of a few good tips to share with you of course!
Double-crested Cormorant – Fort Desoto, Florida
ISO 800 | f/8 | 1/1250 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with a 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III on tripod with gimbal head.
First off, try to look for close ups on interesting action, such as bill clapping, neck stretches or “predator to prey” dialogue. As always, I tend to prefer action over the rest, so that would be the particular point of interest to me. The difficulty here is that you are likely to frame tight around the head already, so any action might be clipped. Step back a few steps. I much prefer having less pixels on my subject versus clipping unexpected action. Also, try to visualize the likely movement in order to be just at the right spot. The latter comes with experience…
Female Long-billed Curlew – Fort Desoto, Florida
ISO 640 | f/5.6 | 1/4000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review), the Canon EOS 5D mark III on tripod with gimbal head.
My second secret is to look for a dramatic composition with the head, or eye very off centered. The top right position of the female Long-billed Curlew above is made to emphasize on the bill length of this beautiful shorebird.
American Oystercatcher – Fort Desoto, Florida
ISO 400 | f/5.6 | 1/1250 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focusing
This photograph was created with the Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM lens (Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II USM review) with a 1.4x extender, the Canon EOS 5D mark III on tripod with gimbal head.
My third tip for today is to make sure you have a very clean background. You can achieve this by adjusting your shooting angle and making sure the background is as far as possible behind your subject. Shooting with a long lens really helps as well, but the key is truly the shooting angle 🙂
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Steven