How to Photograph Water Birds: Five Handy Photo Tips
Who here likes photographing water birds?
Photographing birds on a lake, by the seaside, on a river or in a small pond can be really fun.
It is how I learnt wildlife photography, by going down to my local lake, and taking portraits of all the ducks, swans and geese.
Over the last couple of years, I have learnt a few things about this field of wildlife photography. Read on to discover, five handy tips on photographing water birds.
Get low
For this photo, I was lying in the sand dunes to get to eye level with the dotterel or tūturiwhatu
If I was to give only one tip, it would be this one. Getting low is very important in wildlife photography. When you shoot from above the bird’s level, you are creating an uneven power dynamic.
But, if you shoot from the bird’s level, you are creating a connection between the bird and the viewer.
Getting low also isolates the background. Your subject will effectively be separated from the background with the background becoming soft and blurred.
When I get low, I crouch by the lake edge or by the shore and because my camera has a flip screen it allows me to see my subject without having to look into the viewfinder. Some people do prefer to lie down, this is normally easier if you have a large telephoto lens. If you would prefer not to get mucky, invest in a waterproof tarp or mat to lie or kneel on.
Light is key
The golden sunrise made for great light when I took this photo of a scaup or pāpango
This is a great tip because it is free. You do not have to buy anything to start utilising this advice - but it can make such a huge impact on the quality of your photos.
Light can make your photos go from okay to wow, that is amazing. Try and go out during sunrise or sunset to make use of light. It may mean early starts or late nights, but the photos that you can get from chasing the light make all the tiredness worth it.
Be aware of background
Cleaner background - less distracting
Busy background - distracting from the subject
The background is important in your photos. if you have a noisy background, filled with things it detracts attention from the subject. When you have a nice clean background, it makes your subject pop. You want to aim to have separation between the subject and the background, otherwise you may lose your subject in the messy background.
So, when you have spotted a bird, do a quick scan of what is behind it. If something distracting, move around and try and find a different angle that creates a cleaner background.
Reflections are nice
Shooting into the rising sun, I managed to get some cool light reflections during this shot
The great thing about photographing on a lake or a place with water, is reflections. Play around with this. Perhaps you wish for the bird to be reflected, a tree overhanging the lake, or simply the sky - whatever it is, play around with the different kinds of reflections you can achieve. My favourites are the fiery leaves of a tree during autumn, the clouds on a summer’s day and of course the bird itself. If you manage to get a photo of a bird looking down at his or her reflection, it makes for an interesting photo.
Behaviour is interesting
Two swans courting - when a black swan courts, they will often make a heart shape with their necks
Catching interesting behaviour can make for dynamic photos. Birds are not static creatures, posed in stillness. Birds are these moving, breathing entities that eat, sleep, fly, fight, mate, care for young, court etc. They have so many different types of behaviour that you can capture on your camera.
The key to capturing any of this is patience and maybe a little sprinkle of luck. Watching a bird for a prolonged period of time, will make it more likely that you will capture an interesting moment. So, sit down, take a load off, and simply wait. It is quite a relaxing venture really, waiting around with the birds.