Bird photography tips for beginners: How to get started

Bird photography doesn't have to mean big lenses, full camouflage and sitting in a hide for hours at a time. Staying local and travelling light with a Canon mirrorless camera and compact RF telephoto lens such as the Canon RF 75-300mm F4-5.6 lets you react more quickly. As Ollie Olanipekun, co-founder of the birdwatching collective Flock Together, puts it: "We're quite active in how we approach things. Because we're constantly on the move, we don’t really have time to carry long lenses and sit and wait like traditional wildlife photographers."

Flock Together runs monthly nature walks for people of colour in and around London. Everyone is welcome – from urban birdwatching beginners and birding enthusiasts to amateur photographers. "Beyond that, we have events which are open to everyone," Ollie explains. "Right now, we're being joined by around 300 people a month.

"We're all about bringing creativity to birdwatching, which for me is an important gateway into appreciating nature. You can just step outside and look up – or even just look out your window."

Ollie usually uses his smartphone to take bird photos, but he recently got his hands on the beginner-friendly Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera, paired with the lightweight Canon RF 75-300mm F4-5.6 zoom lens – a great lens for beginners.

"It was really easy to use, but what stood out most was the chance to use a viewfinder again," he says. "I used the camera screen to start with, but once I switched to the viewfinder, I could see way more detail – especially with the sunlight blocked out. I think, as the next generation, we've forgotten how useful viewfinders are because we're always using our phones."

Here, Ollie explains what it was like to upgrade from a smartphone to a mirrorless camera, and offers his best bird photography tips for beginners.

Spend some time observing birds so that you can get a feel for their behaviour. This will help you predict what they might do next and give you a better chance of getting close enough for a good photo.

"With birds, the most important thing is to avoid sudden movements," says Ollie. "The EOS R100 is great for staying discreet when you're trying to get close for a shot with this zoom lens, but you also need to respect the bird. Try to move in the same direction it's going, and be ready to back off and give it space if it seems uncomfortable."

The Canon RF 75-300mm F4-5.6 lens is made for full-frame cameras, but when you use it on an APS-C camera such as the EOS R100, it gives you extra reach – the view is similar to using a 120-480mm lens. That’s because APS-C cameras crop the image slightly, making your subject appear larger in the frame from further away, so you won’t need to get as close to capture a great shot.

Watch for signs that a bird is about to do something interesting. Many birds go to the toilet just before they take off, for example – so that can be your cue to get ready and start shooting a burst of photos. “If you see a bird just sitting there, get your shot set up and be patient,” says Ollie. "That's often the moment right before they do something interesting!"

A telephoto lens is like using a spotting scope or a pair of birdwatching binoculars. It has a narrower angle of view than a standard camera lens, which means it captures less of the scene but makes the bird appear larger in your photo. Keep in mind that when you’re zoomed in this much, it can be harder to keep track of your subject.

"We've been helping people with this on our walks," Ollie says. "We always say use your eyes to locate the bird before you bring your binoculars in, and I was using the same technique with the camera."

Working with a zoom lens such as the Canon RF 75-300mm F4-5.6 makes this easier, because you can start wide to find your bird before zooming in to frame your shot.

"It was so quick," Ollie says. "On a phone you use two fingers to pinch-zoom, but the RF 75-300mm F4-5.6 zoom is very ergonomic – you just twist it and it punches in."

While a long lens helps you zoom in on distant birds, it can also make camera shake more noticeable. To keep your camera steady and capture sharper images, try looping the strap around your arm and pulling it taut, tucking in your elbows, and leaning against something solid such as a wall or tree trunk.

Taking short bursts of photos instead of just one at a time can improve your chances of getting a good shot. "You can switch your camera to Sport mode and hold down the shutter button to quickly take loads of pictures," Ollie recommends. "Then just pick your favourite one later."

Even if you move carefully and use a long lens on your camera, it can still be hard to get close enough to wild birds to fill the frame. But you can make your bird images more eye-catching by using a few simple photo composition tricks.

One helpful tip is to use the rule of thirds. You can activate a 3x3 grid in your camera’s viewfinder, then simply line up the bird so it sits near one of the points where a vertical and horizontal line cross. This often makes the picture feel more balanced than placing the bird in the middle.

Including elements of the bird's environment can also give viewers a better sense of its natural habitat, Ollie suggests. "I've taken a lot of shots where birds are perched on tree branches and stumps. I really like to include that context in my photos," he says.

You don’t have to photograph birds from standing height. Try sitting or lying down to get eye-to-eye with birds on the ground. You’ll bring more of the background into your picture, so check that there are no distracting branches or brightly coloured objects that will draw the viewer's attention.

"I'm so used to shooting from my head height with my phone," Ollie says, "but when I was using the EOS R100 to photograph some Canada geese, I was getting on my knees or crouching and the low angle made the photos look so much better."

If you can get close enough to take a bird portrait, it's worth focusing on the little details that can make a big difference to your photo.

Try using a shallow depth of field to help the bird stand out from the background. To do this, set your camera to Aperture Priority mode (Av), then choose the lowest f-number available, such as f/4 or f/5.6. This gives you the widest aperture to help blur the background. Zoom in as much as you can so you can isolate the bird against a small area of its surroundings.

On many zoom lenses, the widest aperture available changes depending on how far you zoom. For example, with the Canon RF 75-300mm F4-5.6, you'll get f/4 at 75mm and f/5.6 at 300mm. Don't worry – if you're using Aperture Priority, your camera will adjust the widest aperture setting automatically as you zoom.

Make sure you focus on the bird's eye. Advanced Canon EOS R System cameras such as the Canon EOS R7 come with animal Eye Detection AF, which can automatically find and focus on a bird's eye, even when you're shooting images of birds in flight. If you're using one of the camera's advanced shooting modes, you can also move the focus point manually to line up with the eye.

"Usually the focus point is locked in the middle," Ollie says, "but being able to move it around the frame means you can keep the bird in focus without shifting the camera." This gives you more creative freedom: "If you want to focus on a bird in the top-left of the picture, you can do that without having to reframe your whole shot."

To keep running, feeding or flying birds sharp, try moving or panning the camera at the same speed as the bird. You’ll also need to use continuous autofocus so the camera can keep tracking the bird as it moves. Sports mode handles this for you automatically, but if you're using Aperture Priority or another advanced shooting mode for bird photography, make sure you set the autofocus to Servo AF.

Ollie recommends shooting continuously – you'll need to set the camera’s Drive mode to Continuous shooting to do this, although Sports mode does this by default. "Don't worry about getting the perfect hero shot straight away – just keep shooting," he advises. "You might be surprised at what you end up with in the bank when you're prepared to just shoot non-stop. I've spotted details in my photos during playback that I completely missed while I was shooting."



Written by Marcus Hawkins