Savoy Singers Aviary: Tips on Photographing Your Birds

January 15, 2019

Tips on Photographing Your Birds

We all love to share photos of our birds! And there are many different types of photos: some people like to catch their birds in their everyday activities, such as flying, eating or nesting. Sometimes, we want to show off the shape or color of a particularly beautiful bird.

*Of course, we want these photos to be perfect!* Considering how active birds are, our photographs often fall short of what we had hoped to capture! I have found good instructions on a few web pages, and have found a setup that works for me. There are other good methods, and I am always looking for ways to improve my canary photos.

Here are a few of my best tips
and I will add links to the informative webpages following the photos.

A smartphone WILL take good canary photos, but there are differences between the camera on your phone and a good digital SLR camera. If you experiment with your smartphone camera, you will find little tricks that give you good photos.
Strong lighting and a clear or uncluttered background do make the photos more striking.
I have found that a combination of both natural window light, not necessarily direct sunshine, with a small lamp works the best, for me. (Photo #4)
Having the camera lens touching, or very close, to the cage wires forces the camera to focus on the birds inside. My cellphone camera lens has a view that actually fits between the 1/2 inch spacing when I am very close to the cage wires.(Photo #7)
If you cannot get very, very near the cage wires, it is better to move back one foot or more. At that point, both the cage and the birds inside will be in focus. (Photo #5) If you are close, but not close enough, to the wires, your camera will want to focus on the wires, and not the birds inside. (Photo #6)
A single perch at the far end of the cage will encourage the bird to sit in one place. Even a nervous bird will return to the perch.