Decisions, decisions, decisions....
 

First I have to decide whether the weather is OK.

Then I have to choose which lens to use, and one chosen, whether manual or auto exposure, and to whether to use image stabilisation (will I panning?).
Next there's the camera settings:saturation; white balance (pre-set or auto - don't even think about grey cards at this stage of my experience); shutter speed; aperture; ISO.

Now it's composition time: remember rule of thirds; is there anything that would act as natural frame; look out for background and foreground distractions; would I be better moving over there a little; shoot high or low; what's the light doing and where's the sun (forgot lens hood AGAIN); should I shoot now and risk the bird flying off or should I wait for a better pose - just take the chance on catchlight.

All this just to capture a blurry tail feather disappearing to the right. Is it no wonder that I envy train-spotters.

But, it absolutely wonderful when it all comes together.

Merry Christmas and Season's greetings

Ah, the photographers dilemma(s). The best advice I can give is to get out there and just DO IT. Nothing builds experience better than, erm.......... experience. Go forth and take pictures. When you've got the results, look at them self-critically (many people, including myself, are not as good at this as they should be).

Some of the great benefits of digital are:
You can experiment to your heart's content, and it won't cost a penny extra in D&P.
You have EXIF data available. Gone are the days of scribbling in notebooks to see which settings you used to take particular pictures on film. You can examine the full detail of the settings and lens used for every picture without even taking the pencil from behind your ear. Use this information, and learn from it.

I concur, it is wonderful when it all comes together.

Merry Christmas to you too.

Duncan

Some people do manage to make bird photography look easy. As with any form of photograhy it takes practise and trial and error to improve. The main thing is to study your results and understand what could of made it better. Then include these new ideas into your standard approach to the subject.

The problem with too much theory is that you can give yourself too much to worry about and tense up. My better shots tend to come from sites I have photographed before. I am already aware of it's potential problems and compensate for them before I start shooting. The main thing is to get settled down and relaxed so that you can study the birds through the lens and pick your shots. Getting in sync with the birds timing is key to getting good poses. I like to find spots where birds come to you ( food involved here ) rather than chasing around after them.

My lens hood is part of the lens so no fear of forgetting it :D

the reason why I have never got to grips with the ins and outs of cam settings,is simply because most of my photography was/is bird shots.Just make sure the bird is in focus,point and press,hey presto.It is only since using this site,that I now have to think re composition etc.But will never learn the info,although it is my winter project to read the books,and learn where the f stops and aperture settings are within the camera.Need lots of rainy days!!!

For every good photo I am sure you will take hundreds of rubbish ones, the subject moved, she blinked, it just turned around. But if you don't try you will end up with nothing.

Alan