Birding season is just around the corner!
Make sure you’re prepared with the right gear for the job! Explore how to capture the best images of birds with Tamron’s 150-500mm Di III VC VXD lens!
The Tamron 150-500mm Di III VC VXD is an incredible lens for photographing birds. With versatile focal range, this lens provides a significant telephoto reach which is super helpful for capturing distant or small subjects, such as birds! Tamron lenses have top of the line vibration compensation technology which is great for handheld shooting situations like bird photography because it minimizes the effects of camera shake. This lens also comes with Tamron’s VXD Autofocus Motor which allows for quick and accurate focusing of fast-moving subjects. The 150-500mm also boasts top-tier optical performance for maximum sharpness and clarity and weather sealed, durable construction perfect for outdoor environments and weather!
To capture birds in flight, you’ll need more than just the right gear! Check out some tips and tricks for capturing awesome birding images!
Pay attention to Exposure + Shutter Speed
Some birds fly at speeds up to 50mph! Ensuring you have good lighting and a quick shutter speed will help you capture crisp images. When trying to get the best lighting, it’s helpful to shoot with the sun behind you! Having too slow of a shutter speed can result in blurry images, and no one wants that!
Get the right Pose
Set your camera to the highest frame rate. This will allow you to capture as many frames as possible in a short amount of time. Birds move fast, you want to make sure you have as many chances as possible to capture the best moment! Birds photograph best when their wings are up or down rather than straight out.
Use the Focus Limiter.
When capturing birds in flight, set your focus limiter to ignore close objects. This will help your autofocus system work even quicker!
Turn Image Stabilization Off.
Because birding photography utilizes such high shutter speeds, there is no need for image stabilization. If you leave it on it will only make it harder to track the birds and slow down your camera’s ability to focus.
Pay attention to the background
Having a great subject is of course important but so is a great background! Make sure you’re not overlooking the importance of a great background! Try incorporating bokeh in your images or ensuring that your background doesn’t distract from the subject!
Learn bird behavior
Get to know your subject a little! Birds have unique behaviors and knowing how to predict their next move will help you capture amazing shots that elevate your images!
Eyes are Key
Focusing on a bird’s eye and ensuring that it is in focus and well-lit will elevate your entire image. This small detail will help you viewers connect with the subject and make the entire photo seem sharper. Also do your best to capture the catchlight in a bird’s eye. The catchlight is the tiny spot of light reflected in the bird's eyes that make it look alive, without it your bird images may look lifeless.
Master Silhouettes
Birds make for really cool silhouette images. To capture a silhouette, find a subject against a bright background and expose for the background while keeping the subject in shadow. Sunsets are really great backdrops for silhouettes because the bright colors make for a visually interesting background!
Practice makes perfect! Use these tips and tricks to get started or take your birding photos to the next level!
Birding Images by Bruce Wunderlich | Product Image by Andrew Konya