Wildlife Photography How To

Most of us photograph birds on occasion, regardless of our favorite genre, because these colorful and accessible subjects are just about everywhere you look—including in your own backyard. Inexperienced shooters typically concentrate on stationary subjects perched on a branch because of a common misconception that capturing birds in flight is far beyond their skills.

This beginners tutorial from the new Wildlife with Rich YouTube channel simplifies the task in barely four minutes by describing the necessary gear, camera settings, and techniques so that even those new to the game can make very impressive photos of our flying feathered friends. You'll pick up some bonus tips for making better images of perched birds too.

In this behind-the-scenes episode you'll watch Rich do his thing at Symonds Yat Rock, one of the UK's best locations for photographing Peregrine Falcons and other birds of prey. Rich notes that Peregrines are the fastest animals in the world—capable of flying at 200mph—making them perfect subjects for demonstrating the task at hand.

As an experienced wildlife photographer Rich arrives before sunrise so he's set up and ready to go when the sun peaks above the horizon. That's because many animals, including raptors, do most of their hunting at dawn or dusk. Birds are most active at these times of day, and there's also the benefit of great Golden Hour illumination.

When light levels are low it's necessary to use higher ISO settings than those you'd choose when photographing during midday—especially when moving subjects are the name of the game and faster shutter speeds are required. That's why fast lenses and cameras with good low-noise characteristics are are a big advantage—especially for shooting handheld.

Rich also prefers using a telephoto zoom instead of a prime lens for one specific reason: "I can zoom out to find my subject within the frame and then zoom in to get the exact composition I want." For this session he chose the popular, powerful, and relatively affordable Sigma 150-600mm, noting that the push/pull mechanism of this long range zoom is fast and convenient to use.

When it comes to camera settings, Rich recommends starting with a shutter speed of 1/2,000 or faster for photographing birds in flight without a tripod on clear days. Of course, a slower shutter speed will be required in situations with heavy cloud cover or during poor weather. The speed of your subject also factors into the equation, and everything changes when photographing slower birds.

Rich discusses other important camera settings before moving on to composition and several very effective techniques, and by the time the lesson concludes you'll be ready and able to tackle this challenge. Then head over to his instructional YouTube channel for more wildlife photography tips and tricks.

We also suggest watching a tutorial we featured earlier with an image-editing expert who demonstrates how to edit nature and landscape photographs for perfect color using a straightforward Lightroom technique.