Photographing Your Bird

The best setting for photos of your companion parrot are those which show the bird doing favorite, funny or natural things. Getting in close enough to get a good shot is the next most important issue. Followed by capturing just the essence of the action. A shot of only the bird's head and foot holding it's toy as it attacks it would be a much better shot than the whole bird and stand of the same shot. This is more difficult than it sounds and you may need to take several photos of the same shot in order to be able to pick out the best one.

Helpful hints for shooting your bird (with a camera)!

Once your bird has been photograhed enough to recognize the camera, it may become a real challenge to get good shots.

Multiple shots with slightly different settings, angles and depth of field.
Flip the camera to make the shot vertically when called for. This is especially important when capturing a bird with a long tail or to eliminate wasted space on each side of your photo.
With a Zoom lense you can get much closer photos to also eliminate the extra blank spaces and without interferring with your birds activity. My favorite lense is my 28-210mm Zoom.
Try to get a natural background or blur it out. The most important thing about backgrounds is what NOT to include. No protrusions sticking out at odd angles, and nothing that will appear to be growing from the behind the bird's head or torso.
Get down to eye level with your bird, or even lower. These angles will be more interesting and natural.
Make it fun for your bird! Giving a nut or toy to occupy it will give YOU more time to set up and shoot.
It is NO fun to be flashed repeatedly, so go easy or eliminate the flash by taking photos outside.

From the New York Institute of Photography:

"Birds may be fun to watch, but they're notoriously difficult to capture on film. One of the biggest challenges faced by the bird photographer is getting close enough to the subject to be able to produce a good image. The easiest (though also the most expensive) solution to this problem is to work with a telephoto lens. Most professional bird photographers, in fact, often use a 500mm or 600mm telephoto lens, sometimes coupled with a teleconverter (a device that extends the lens’ focal length). But for amateur photographers who want to photograph birds without buying a lot of expensive equipment, there are always other methods and options. “If you’re going after the Andean Condor, you’re going to need a telephoto lens to get the shot,” said Chuck DeLaney, Dean of NYI, America’s oldest and largest photography school. “But if you’re mainly interested in photographing birds in your region, maybe just in your backyard, there are still plenty of options, like using a blind for getting good photos.” One strategy, employed quite cleverly by an NYI graduate, is particularly well-suited for the backyard bird photographer. To capture songbirds (who are notorious for their quick, erratic movements and thus difficult to photograph), she positions her Canon SLR near a feeder, sets the focus, aperture, and shutter speed, then retreats to the porch. She waits there until a bird comes to the feeder, then, when the moment is right, she uses her infrared control to trigger her camera’s shutter. Birds approach her feeders and backyard perches because she is out of sight, and, as a result, she’s able to get closer shots without using a telephoto lens. For more great suggestions on how to take bird photos and lots of great photos, see the article on Bird Photography in this month’s Web site of the New York Institute of Photography".