Photographing birds can be a fun and rewarding experience, if somewhat challenging. It helps if you have great gear but there is so much more to it than that. Here’s how to photograph birds like a pro, even with your phone (and the first two tips don’t even involve a camera!).
Your backyard and your local area are the best places to learn and improve your bird photography. Roughly 90 percent of bird photography is in the setup. Taking the shot is almost incidental. So, if you can learn about the birds in your area, their behaviors, and their preferred habitats, this will help you anticipate their actions and find them in the right places.
Never get tired of photographing your local birds. It is all practice for when something more exciting comes along. Also, as you observe and photograph the habits, movements, and social interactions of common birds, you are mastering (often subconsciously) your camera and learning how to get the best out of it.
The joy of bird photography is that you never know what you are going to get. And that is true even in your backyard. Some of my favorite photographs have come from the most ordinary, common birds just being themselves, like these House Sparrows below when courting. It was taken with a cheaper camera and could easily be snapped with a phone.
Get Closer
Patience is a huge factor in bird photography. Whether you are in your garden, a bird hide, or lying in the mud waiting for birds, you have to be able to wait for them to come nearer to you. This is especially important when using a phone as you may not have the lens capacity to reach the birds.
If you need to move closer, do so slowly and deliberately to avoid startling the bird. Use natural cover like trees, bushes, or other natural elements to conceal yourself and get closer to the bird. Once again, knowing bird habits will help you do this.
But, there are lots of ways to get closer to birds that don’t involve skulking in bushes. Visiting sanctuaries, aviaries, and even bird feeders often means the birds are more used to humans and will give you the opportunity to use your phone camera more effectively.
I spent many hours lying on a beach waiting for the incoming tide to push migratory shorebirds toward me. Only by studying them and their habitat was I able to figure out where and when I should wait. Shorebirds are largely concerned with threats from above them, so lying down meant I was much less visible. As they didn’t see me move, they were not threatened by me as they came closer.
Master Your Phone’s Camera
I touched on learning your gear before and that is crucial, whether you have expensive cameras and lenses or you are using your phone. Birds often don’t sit still and you need to be ready to go when you get an opportunity. Here are my top tips for using the camera on your phone.
- Use your phone’s zoom function sparingly, as it can reduce image quality. Instead, try to get physically closer to the bird.
- Tap on the bird on your phone’s screen to ensure it is in focus.
- Use burst mode to capture a series of photos in quick succession, increasing your chances of getting a great shot.
- Experiment with your phone’s camera settings, such as HDR mode and exposure compensation, to improve your photos.
- Most smartphones also give you the option of using manual settings. Use them if you can.
- Don’t be afraid to use the flash. It is not only there for nighttime photography. Using a fill-in flash can help your camera nail the focusing and bring the photograph to life, like the one below.
Once you have mastered the basics of your phone’s camera, consider purchasing a telephoto lens attachment to get closer to the birds. They are inexpensive and easy to use. The great advantage being that you always have your phone with you, but you don’t necessarily carry your camera gear everywhere.
Another step forward is to stabilize your phone. Use a tripod or lean your phone against a solid surface to avoid blurry photos. These are also cheap and very portable.
Composition is Key
A great composition tip is to use the Rule of Thirds. Imagine dividing your screen into nine equal parts with two horizontal and two vertical lines. Place the bird at the intersection of these lines for a more visually appealing composition.
I have always been tempted to put the bird bang in the center of my photo and crop close around it. But sometimes, when you can’t get close enough to the bird, putting it on one of these intersections and showing more of the background can look very nice. That is what happened with this tern photograph. Using this technique will help you with your phone camera if it cannot zoom in enough.
Next up, try to photograph the bird at eye level to create a more intimate connection with the viewer. I always try to take photos of the bird actually looking down the lens. You will be forgiven a host of photographic sins if the viewer is absorbed by the subject matter!
Take this photo of a hornbill, for instance. It was a bit dark, the front of the bill was out of focus and the background muddy, but all I see are those incredible eyelashes when I look at it, and I love it.
Lastly, pay attention to the background and try to choose a clean and uncluttered backdrop that will not distract from the bird. Easier said than done, I know. Most birds do not move on demand but in a perfect world, clarity is what we need.
Lighting Matters
Birds are most active in the early morning and late afternoon when the light is also best for photography. My advice is to get your birding early!
If you are shooting with the light behind the bird, make sure to adjust your exposure to avoid a silhouette. When I was first starting out, my photographer cousin gave me a rule that I have always stuck with and that is to always expose for the bird. Cameras and phones on automatic settings can easily underexpose a darker bird in a brighter sky. Learn how to use manual settings to get the exposure that is right for the bird, regardless of the background.
But don’t be afraid to experiment with lighting. Focusing is much more important as there are lots of software programs that can correct lighting but improving a blurred image is still pretty tricky. Digital photography, in whichever form, allows us to make lots of mistakes as we learn. I shot these spoonbills with the sun behind them and hoped for the best. I was surprised and delighted that their bones were visible!
Capture Behavior
Try to capture birds in action, such as flying, feeding, or singing. These photos are often more interesting than static portraits. Take the Great Egret. Most of the time they are standing quite still and while their plumage is always stunning, once you have a few photos of them you don’t really need any more. But, watching them fishing is another story!
Also, look for unique behaviors or interactions between birds that you can capture on camera. They will add huge interest to your photos. Take these rare Australian cockatoos for instance. You can just tell they are bonding.
Editing and Sharing
All smartphones have editing software built in. Use those tools (or download to a photo editing suite) to crop your photos and adjust the brightness, contrast, and sharpness. It is quite incredible how much photographs can be improved in this way.
Share your best bird photos on social media or with friends, family, and the wider birding community. There are groups dedicated to phone photography, bird photography, and even bird phone photography that can critique your photos, give tips, and answer those burning questions you might have.
Final Thoughts
In my opinion, there are 2 key points in bird photography and it doesn’t matter whether you are using a camera and long lens or your phone, whether you are a beginner or a pro.
- Have fun. The sheer joy of being in the presence of these wonderful creatures is only topped by having a permanent record of the experience in your photos.
- Practice, practice, practice. The only way to get better at photographing birds is to practice doing it. And what better way than with your phone?
