BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY NOW AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Because of the rising popularity of bird photography, we are inundated with images. The challenge to produce unique and original images is increasingly more difficult.
To most amateur bird photographers the ultimate goal is a basic, decently exposed, sharp picture of a bird. Thanks to modern advanced technology, there are many easy and inexpensive ways to show your images, which has flooded the market with endless streams of more or less the same portraits of practically every species.
With this book we hope to provide some technical advice in addition to new ideas for taking better and more diverse pictures. The book is primarily for fledgling bird photographers, but even more advanced photographers will find good tips. Anyone can face a sudden and special situation out in the field, and it’s good to be fast, confident, and deliberate when trying to capture something rare that you might see only once in your lifetime. A high level of readiness comes with technical confidence and the skill to see the opportunities in any given situation. The latter can be practiced by analyzing other people’s work and by teaching yourself to do things differently.
The market for bird images is starting to be full of good stuff. The abundance is also raising viewers’ expectations. Merely 10 years ago, a sharp, well-exposed basic portrait of a White-tailed Eagle was a rare treat. Now the species is making a comeback, and it’s possible to photograph it in several places. You could say that White-tailed Eagle images have suffered from inflation because there are so many fantastic images. This means that you need to have a truly exceptional White-tailed Eagle image for it to stand out from the rest.
To stay ahead, you have to constantly reinvent—find new angles and surprise your audience. Copying old or new masters is not the way forward; instead, you should find your own style. By studying what’s out there, by learning about photography, and by pushing the limits, you can build your own brand. Get off the beaten path and aim for something original that helps your image stand out.
We have said quite a few times that good technical quality is a prerequisite, but remember that some rules were made to be broken. There can be situations or styles that merit qualities other than technical ones, making even a critical viewer prone to forgive technical flaws when faced with something breathtaking.
Despite the present volume of bird images, it can’t be said that every possible bird image has been taken. The same subjects can be approached from different angles, and each situation, with its variants of light conditions and action, is somewhat unique.
The most important thing is to spend as much time in the field with a camera as possible, and also to plan and visualize potential situations in advance. A specialist will focus on subjects that most people will pass, because rare footage will always be in demand, whereas a jack-of-all-trades will shoot anything! A professional can find success with both strategies.
Backlight enhances the details in this White-tailed Eagle’s outspread wings and tail feathers as it lands (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 70–200mm f/2.8, 1/1600 second, 200mm, f/5.0, ISO 1600, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, Manfrotto 501 video head attached to the blind’s camera plank. Vehmaa, November 2008.
The tip of another eagle’s wing makes this portrait of an old White-tailed Eagle more intriguing (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm f/4.0 plus 1.4x extender, 1/500 second, f/5.6, ISO 800, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, Manfrotto 501 video head attached to the blind’s camera plank. Vehmaa, November 2008.
Birds have so many fantastic details, such as the plumage design on this Arctic Loon’s neck (Gavia arctica)
Canon EOS-1D Mark II, 500mm f/4.0 plus 2x extender, 1/80 second, f/8.0, ISO 200, manual focus, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head. Vaala, Finland, June 2005.
You might be able to catch something like this only once in a lifetime. Long-tailed Duck males fighting over a female (Clangula hyemalis).
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, 500mm f/4.0, 1/2000 second, f/8.0, ISO 400, continuous focus with 45 focusing points, handheld camera, boat. Varangerbotn, Norway, March 2006.
The Future of Bird Photography
Increasingly, many people have the means to acquire high-quality camera equipment that helps them take technically good images. Commercial blinds can be rented and guide services can be bought. All this has helped to increase the image supply, which has led to lower pricing. Some offer their images for very low rates—even for free. Many seem to be happy with being credited as the photographer. This spells trouble for the overall progress in bird photography.
Novice photographers should reflect on their motives for a moment. If they photograph birds because it’s a great way to spend one’s free time, and the end goal is to bring joy to oneself, then they can focus on enjoying some great experiences, collecting lovely memories, and taking good pictures.
But if you want bird photography to help bring food to the table or even become a full-time profession, it’s important to realize that the competition among photographers is not getting any easier, and the explosion of good material on the Internet is not going to make life easy for a bird photographer.
All the same, a technically faultless, visually interesting, consummately produced bird image still has commercial value, even if it’s accurate to say that it’s a buyer’s market. Success rarely comes easily; instead, hard work and a strong vision can help you gain a foothold in the world of bird photography and be successful.
Bird photographers need patience and perseverance to spend the necessary amount of time with a photo project, yet at the same time we need to be dynamic and quick to adapt our ways in a rapidly changing world. This applies to both work in the field and work done on the computer to process and archive the image files, and to publish and promote them.
Great Gray Owl on the snow (Strix nebulosa)
Canon EOS-1D Mark II, 70–200mm f/2.8, 1/1000 second, 153mm, f/4.0, ISO 400, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, handheld camera. Kempele, March 2005.
There is no one road to success, nor is there one truth—the only sure thing is that bird photography is fun and interesting!
Show Your Images and Ask for Feedback
No one is born a master—it’s a long road of learning and growing. It is fairly common among photographers, especially in the early stages of one’s career, to feel that one’s images are somehow better and more special than others. This stems from knowing that the images required great sacrifice and personal suffering and from being giddy with joy at the successful result. Unfortunately, this euphoria is seldom clear to the audience. The viewers, blissfully unaware of the hardships encountered, judge the image wholly and totally from their own varied premises and base it on the image’s perceived exceptionality or beauty.
On the other hand, it’s important not to underestimate your work. Trust your vision, even if some of the feedback is less encouraging. There’s the old saying that envy burns hotter than lust, and sometimes your image can raise stinging criticism that stems more from envy than genuine examination of your work.
A good way to get constructive criticism and help in evaluating your work realistically is to share it widely with fellow photographers, for example on nature photo forums and websites. You will notice that feedback given with real names is often overly positive—it’s not so easy to give genuinely constructive and helpful criticism. This seems to apply to Facebook especially well. One way to gauge the success of your image is the amount of attention it gets—the better your image is, the more comments it’s likely to get.
We tend to share our images mostly among our photographer friends, but you should try to widen your audience; it gives you a broader understanding of which images appeal to larger audiences. I’ve entered a few images in competitions, based on how my audiences responded to them as I gave talks, and those images often did well.
Start by showing your images to a small crowd and gradually work your way to bigger audiences. This gives you experience and confidence, and when you eventually stand in front of a really big audience, you won’t be incapacitated by nerves. Local camera clubs offer good opportunities for practice, and you can progress to national and international forums. The wider the audiences, the more varied the feedback, which can give you valuable insights to your perspectives and ideas. More experienced photographers can give useful tips and advice on how to improve your images and your presentation techniques. You don’t have to agree with everybody, but exchanging opinions and listening to one another helps each and every one of us to grow.
For me, the Picture of the Week contest on our website (www.birdphoto.fi) has probably helped me to grow professionally more than any other single factor. People can rate and comment on our images without revealing their own identities, and sometimes the feedback is ruthless. But the viewers have taught me to look at my images more critically, and it has also been fun to see how the images that really are the best are in the top 10 at the end of the year. This open and direct competition between friends and colleagues has also proved to be a kick in the rear as we hotly pursue the best-ever image.
Capturing a Snowy Owl from a slightly unusual angle and in exceptional light conditions help to make a more interesting image (Bubo scandiacus)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm f/4.0, 1/2500 second, f/7.1, ISO 400, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, handheld camera. Canada, March 2009.
When I took this Bohemian Waxwing image one dark morning, I told myself it would be a useless image (Bombycilla garrulus). Instead, it has been sold many times, so it’s a very good image!
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, 500mm f/4.0, 1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 1000, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, handheld camera. Oulu, Finland, December 2006.
Composition is important. Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).
Nikon D3S, 200–400mm f/2.8, 1/1000 second, 153mm, f/4.0, ISO 400, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, handheld camera. Utajärvi, Finland, January 2011.
Value Your Work and Enjoy It
A healthy dose of self-criticism is a virtue because it’s a driving force, and it motivates you to become even better. But like everything else, it’s a balancing act, and too much of it is not a good thing. You need a touch of self-satisfaction, too. Who values your work if you don’t? Don’t compare your images too much with other people’s work; instead, try sticking to your guns—this might even earn you your own hallmark.
Latching onto ideas or being influenced by great images is only natural, but they should be impressions on one’s own vision, not something to be copied. In the end, what matters is that your work pleases you. The commercial angle is well captured by Hannu Hautala, the Grand Old Man of Finnish nature photography: “A sold image is a good image.” There is no one way to photograph birds nor to set a value on an image.
Positive experiences and feelings are the driving forces behind bird photography. Be proud of your achievements, be they skillful exposures, balanced compositions, good timing in action photos, or careful preparations that led to successful images. Take pleasure in your friends’ achievements, and if you feel yourself turning green with envy at other photographers’ fantastic images, tell them so. The next great image might be yours!
A nature photo can have elements of humor, drama, tragedy, suspense, mystery. A nature photo can be a document, a serenade to nature, a work of art, a piece of interior decoration. Nature photos can be used to promote conservation, to raise awareness, to catch attention, to educate, to fill with joy, to thrill.
A good bird image inspires and moves. A brilliant bird image fills you with awe. A camera is not just a technical device to capture something; photographers use their cameras to convey their visions of what they see to their audience. The more a photographer invests in the image, the more powerful its effect on the audience.
Every good image has a story that touches the viewer’s imagination. The story is not created by pressing the shutter release, it stems from the photographer’s own, individual, and unique vision.