Photographing Birds

There are many ways to photograph birds and in this post I will share with you how I do it. Photographing birds is arguably the most difficult and at times the most frustrating photographic endeavor that requires patients and perseverance. Birds are always on the move, especially Warblers, but they also move into and out of extreme lighting conditions. The equipment I use the most is a Nikon D850, which has a 45.7MP FX-Format (full frame) BSI CMOS Sensor with a Nikkor 500mm f/4 prime lens.

I’m usually out before sunrise so the light is low forcing me to push the exposure triangle of the shutter speed, f-stop, and the ISO. The photo below was taken just after sunrise and being in a canyon there was no sunlight reaching this Hammond's Flycatcher. I was using the Image Stabilization so I lowered the shutter speed to 1/800s but I should have lowered it even more. With an f/4.5, the Auto ISO was max’d out at my upper limit for the D850 of 2000.

Featured Photo: Hammond's Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii) - Cedar Hill Canyon, STO (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 9-4-2020 at 6:28

Settings: 500mm, 1/800s, f/4.5, ISO2000, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

---

ISO CONSIDERATIONS

Some Nikon cameras are ISO invariant, which means that the image quality using the lowest ISO and then brightening it up post processing is the same as using the proper ISO in camera. So this means increasing the exposure in Lightroom introduces noise, but it is the same amount as if a higher ISO was used in camera (for more details here’s a link to an Improve Photography post https://improvephotography.com/34818/iso-invariance/). So I could set the ISO to 100 and leave it there; however, it is nice to see the image in the field so I use Auto ISO with 2000 set as the maximum. The ISO invariant option may not work with your camera especially if you use Canon so do some research on your camera.

This image of the White-headed Woodpecker was taken in low light under the canopy of a conifer forest. You can see that I had max’d out the Auto ISO to my upper limit of 2000 with the aperture wide open for the 500mm lens at f/4, and I lowered the shutter speed down to 1/640s. The Vibration Reduction or image stabilization on the D850 is really good and I have used shutter speeds as low as 1/300s with the 500mm with no noticeable camera shake or an overall blurry image.

White-headed Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus albolarvatus), Whites Creek Canyon, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 10-22-2020 at 8:43

Settings: 500mm, 1/640s, f/4, ISO2000, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

---

SHUTTER SPEED CONSIDERATIONS

As the light increases, the next thing I do is try to increase the shutter speed, for those frustrating Warblers, to at least 1/(35mm eqivanent maximum focal length of your lens). For newer photographers, this means that your lens has a focal length and in my case I use a 500mm so that would mean I should use 1/500s minimum without image stabilization. I captured this Redstart at 1/800s, which gives me a better chance of capturing any movement in sharp focus: higher is better and I will continue to increase the shutter speed until it reaches 1/1250s to f/1600s. Another factor you need to consider is the crop factor of you camera. If you are using a full frame camera the crop factor is 1:1 or equivalent to 35 mm in the film age. So, a smaller sensor acts like a magnifier or like using a teleconference on a full frame (FX) camera, which means you need to multiply your maximum focal length by the crop factor of your sensor to obtain 35 mm equivalent focal length.

Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus) - 6 Mile Canyon Road, STO (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 9-4-2020 at 9:04

Settings: 500mm, 1/800s, f/4.5, ISO800, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

Next, I want to increase the f-stop to keep away from the lower end of the lens range where distortion can be introduced. With my NIkkor 500mm f/4 lens I usually set the f-stop to f/5.6 because I want to achieve a soft focus background or bokeh.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), Whites Creek Canyon, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 10-22-2020 at 10:52

Settings: 500mm, 1/800s, f/5.6, ISO450, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sun/Shade

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), Whites Creek Canyon, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 10-22-2020 at 10:52

Settings: 500mm, 1/800s, f/5.6, ISO450, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sun/Shade

Steller's Jay, Coastal (Cyanocitta stelleri [stelleri Group]), Rancho San Rafael, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 11-28-2020 at 10:04

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/5.6, ISO900, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

Some challenging situations are when the sky or a light area is behind your subject and trying to capture black and white birds. This Pinyon Jay was in shade but a bright sky was behind it. Your camera will try to expose for the sky, which will underexpose the bird. There are a few solutions for getting proper exposure in these situations. This image was taken at a low ISO220 because of the background sky so the Jay was underexposed. Since the Nikon D850 is ISO invariant, I was able to get proper exposure post processing in Lightroom. I would prefer a proper exposure in camera so I have programed one of my buttons on the front of my camera to lock the exposure. Birds have this sometimes frustration habit of flying away just before you press the shutter. So pointing the camera to a darker area and locking the exposure, the ISO will increase and then your subject will be closer to a proper in camera exposure. This takes a little practice to know what ISO will be close to what you want.

Another way is to turn off the Auto ISO and then adjust the ISO until your in camera’s light meter slightly overexposed. This might not work if you don’t have an ISO button within fingers reach. Luckily the D850 has an ISO button just behind the shutter release button but this takes a little more time than locking the exposure and by that time you adjust the ISO the bird could be gone. This also takes practice to know how much to overexpose the image to obtain a good exposure. This is also important with photographing black and white birds where you need to over expose black and under expose white birds.

Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), Silver Saddle Ranch, CAR (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-01-2020 at 9:34

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/800s, f/5.6, ISO220, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

I’ve included a few more photos below with the settings I used and the basic lighting conditions. Hope you find this helpful and good luck.

Look at me American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), Carson City WWTP Wetlands, CAR (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 11-19-2020 at 11:50

Settings: 500mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, ISO400, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sunny

Submerging Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), Boynton Slough, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 10-30-2020 at 9:20

Settings: 500mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, ISO1600, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica), Fishermans Park, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-4-2020 at 11:19

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO1000, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), Fishermans Park, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-4-2020 at 11:56

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/9.0, ISO400, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sun/Shade

This Varied Thrush is a rare visitor in northern Nevada and she was not cooperative at all. I got 5 or 6 shots before she flew off and I couldn’t find her again. In a future post I will talk about Photographing Bird Behavior and how I captured the birds and a few tips to consider.

Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius), Rancho San Rafael, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-4-2020 at 9:22

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO1800, +1/3EV, Conditions: Shade

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), Rancho San Rafael, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-4-2020 at 10:24

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1000s, f/6.3, ISO400, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sun

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), Fishermans Park, WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, Taken: 12-4-2020 at 11:15

Settings: 700mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO1100, +1/3EV, Conditions: Sun/Shade

Your comments are welcomed and if you have any questions about these photos or any other leave me a message.