Best Camera for Bird Photography

Best Camera for Bird Photography
With spring only a couple of months away, no doubt you’re getting anxious to get outside to shoot some wildlife photography. Spring is a great time to capture birds in flight. But you really don’t have to wait until the first buds appear on the trees to pick back up on your wildlife photography. There are plenty of opportunities for you to capture colorful birds in flight during the dead of winter. Just break out your bird photography lens  and capture birds in flight among the snowy white background. When it comes to bird photography, quality camera gear will increase your chances of success. In most cases, you won’t be getting up close and personal when photographing these birds in flight. Here are some tips for capturing birds in flight that will carry you through the wintry months into spring.

Owl Photography
The best way to capture good photos of owls is to first learn as much as you can about the species. Whether you’re photographing a great horned owl, a barn owl or a snowy owl, if you understand its behavior and daily habits, you’ll be better prepared to capture them in their natural habitat. When searching for an owl like the great horned owl, one of the best ways to locate it is to listen for it. Once you locate the nest of the great horned owl or barn owl you’re searching for, visit the nest several times to learn the habits of the owl. Owls usually nest high in trees. If you want to capture images of the great horned owl head-on, or emphasize the forward-facing eyes of the barn owl, you don’t want to shoot upwards from the ground with your Canon EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR Camera from Buydig.com. Try to find great horned owls that are nesting in trees that sit in a valley or low-lying depressions in the forest. This way you can shoot from a nearby location or hill at eye level. The best place to locate snowy owls during the winter is in the dunes and dune grasses of the New Jersey coastline. These large owls, the second largest behind the great gray owl, have wingspans reaching more than 5 feet! Get out early in the morning to capture the snowy owl resting on a fence post or sitting on the beach. If you’re trying to capture your snowy owl in flight, it will require a shutter speed between 1/2000^th and 1/3200^th of a second. Because you’ll be shooting these great horned owls, barn owls, or snowy owls from a distance, you’ll need to carry lenses ranging from 200mm to 600mm.

Hummingbird Photography
It won’t be long until those magnificent, miniature creatures of flight return to your garden. Now’s the time to plan ahead to have your hummingbird photography setup prepared and ready for their return. One of the most creative hummingbird images to capture is freezing the wings in mid-air. So it goes without saying that the most important setting on your Nikon camera is of course the shutter speed. Plan on having your hummingbird photography setup with your shutter speed set to 1/2000^th to 1/4000^th of a second to achieve this effect. Also, have your exposure mode set to shutter priority during hummingbird photography setup. This will allow you to control the shutter speed so the camera will automatically set the aperture for you. Set your ISO to around 2000 during hummingbird photography set up as well. You’re only going to have a split second to capture images of these lightning fast birds. Use subject tracking on your Sony a7III full frame mirrorless camera from Buydig.com while shooting at a fast frame rate. These tiny creatures require photographing from a close distance. Your hummingbird photography setup will require a lens that allows you to photograph from a distance of about 10-12 feet. A Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens will give you what you need without requiring you to resort to a lot of post-process cropping. This last tip will take some practice, but shoot with both eyes open when photographing hummingbirds. While looking through the viewfinder with one eye, scope out the entire hummingbird scene with the other eye. Failure to do so may result in missing your chance to capture the shot!

Eagle Photography
Once you begin your journey into bird photography, it won’t take long to figure out the most sought after shot. If there’s a “most wanted” list for bird photographers, the bald eagle would be at the top of that list. As with most bird and wildlife photography, learning the habits of the species is the best way to capture great images. When it comes to photographing eagles, they love fresh fish. Luck into salmon running, and chances are you’ll also luck into a group of eagles feasting. Once you’ve tracked your American eagles, it’s best to have two cameras ready to go. Try having a Nikon DSLR with a 500mm lens mounted on a tripod with a gimbal head ready to easy tracking. Also, have another DSLR with a 70-300mm strapped across your shoulder so you’re ready for whatever the bald eagle brings to the scene. The same holds true when photographing eagles as other birds. Use fast shutter speeds even if they’re perched on a branch. You never know when these amazing American eagles will take flight.