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Getting Started in Getting Started in Ethical Ethical Bird Bird Photography Photography With Mark Bohrer With Mark Bohrer

Ethical bird photography for beginners

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Ethical techniques for finding, approaching, and photographing wild birds

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Getting Started in Getting Started in

Ethical Ethical Bird Photography Bird Photography

With Mark BohrerWith Mark Bohrer

…without harming them.

So you want to photograph So you want to photograph birds…birds…

Ethical photography preserves birds

Disturb a parent, and she may abandon her young

Your pictures show their value – and the right way to watch!

Wildlife Photographer’s Code of Ethics 1 Move slowly and quietly to keep ‘em where they are

Avoid nests and dens – or keep a very discreet distance

Limit feeding to backyard birds – wildlife will appear without being lured

Learn to recognize wildlife alarm signals – and respect them.

Keep your distance. If they change what they’re doing, you’re too close - and you miss their natural behavior.

Use a telephoto lens from a blind or a vehicle.

Don’t chase or flush ‘em.They don’t need the stress!

Leave plants and trees as they were. Think of the next person’s background.

Obey all the regs. Especially respect trail closures - they’re for everybody’s safety.

Federal and state law prohibit disturbing wildlife - leave ‘em alone!

Wildlife Photographer’s Code of Ethics 2

Wildlife photography isn’t done with a Kodak Instamatic

Use a dSLR with a crop sensor (smaller than a piece of 35mm film) Use a 400mm lens or longer to keep your distance and pull ‘em in Use a stable tripod – carbon fiber if you can swing the $$ Use a gimbal head – Wimberley for 400mm and up if you have it

($$ again) – ball head if you don’t

No white, red or unnatural colors – What does the bull do when it sees the red cape?

You’ll need something to carry it in – 400mm and longer lenses require a dedicated bag. See the Long Lens Cases at www.kgear.com

The well-dressed wildlife photographer

Who – Colors, legs & bills, calls, sizeWho – Colors, legs & bills, calls, size Where – Beach, Marsh, ForestWhere – Beach, Marsh, Forest When – Season, Time of dayWhen – Season, Time of day What – Are they flying, perching, feeding, What – Are they flying, perching, feeding,

breeding?breeding? How do we get there?How do we get there?

What do you want to capture?What do you want to capture?

The best bird photographers are storytellers… The best bird photographers are storytellers…

It’s about the BEHAVIOR, dude!!

Avoid boring pictures –

Do your behavioral homework so you know what to expect.

Then wait for something interesting to happen!

So what’s the story?

The Story – The Story –

Where the birds areWhere the birds are

Long-legged waders like shallows – creeks & sloughs

The Story – The Story –

Where the birds Where the birds areare

Sandpipers and their kin like mud

The Story – The Story –

Where the birds areWhere the birds areUpland ground birds like grasslands and savannah

The Story –

Where the birds areRaptors like forests, savannah, coastal marshes

The Story – The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

Double-crested cormorants dive for prey, but need to dry soggy feathers afterwards

The Story – The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

Most owls are nocturnal huntersMost owls are nocturnal huntersAdult burrowing owls perch Adult burrowing owls perch outside burrows during the dayoutside burrows during the dayOwls hunt 24 hours to feed Owls hunt 24 hours to feed nestlings in springnestlings in spring

The Story – The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

Some ducks dabble for seeds…

Some ducks Some ducks dive for live dive for live bait!bait!

The Story –The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

Sparrows and other Sparrows and other perching birds like perching birds like seeds in bordering seeds in bordering grasslands – CEREAL!grasslands – CEREAL!

Gulls eat anything living…

…especially marine invertebrates like mussels

The Story –The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

The Story –The Story –

Think about Think about how they eathow they eat

California brown pelicans dive for fish

American white pelicans dip for fish

The Story – The Story –

Birds as consumersBirds as consumers They eat grass, seeds, insects, fish, They eat grass, seeds, insects, fish,

worms, shellfish, snails…worms, shellfish, snails…

Bottom-up herbivores and top-down Bottom-up herbivores and top-down predatorspredators

What would happen if they didn’t eat? What would happen if they didn’t eat? (Think about connections…)(Think about connections…)

Turkey vultures and other scavengers –

Nature’s garbage men clean up carrion & organic

waste

The Story - Ecosystem The Story - Ecosystem MaintenanceMaintenance

The Story The Story Ecosystem Ecosystem MaintenanceMaintenance

Eggshells return calcium, traces of Mg and S to soil – and plants love that stuff!

Chicks are prey for other birds & Chicks are prey for other birds & mammals - their remains decay into mammals - their remains decay into soil. soil.

More nutrients for plants – and no More nutrients for plants – and no wastewaste

Wetlands provide: water filters food flood control homes

All that, and we get to photograph the residents!

The Story – It may look empty, but birds and other wildlife live there

Wetlands provide: water filters food flood control homes

All that, and we get to photograph the residents!

The Story – It may look empty, but birds and other wildlife live there

Shooting techniques – Shooting techniques – f/8 and be there… or notf/8 and be there… or not

Isolate with narrow depth of field = LARGE lens openings Use highest possible ISO BUT low enough for acceptable noise

– ISO 1600-3200 with current cameras at close distancesHigh ISO + large lens opening = barely high-enough shutter speeds to freeze action

Shooting techniques –

Approach slowly

Shooting techniques –

Take ‘insurance’ shots from farther away

Shooting techniques –

How close? Fill the frame without behavior changes:

1. Move up while they’re feeding

2. Gulls, ravens and egrets are easier to approach

Shooting techniques –

Use a tripod for 500mm or 600mm lenses – did I say that already?

Heck, use a tripod for 400mm lenses too – can you hold 8X binoculars steady?

Composition AKA Shot Design 1 –

Remember, editors don’t buy crappy pictures – and spouses won’t look at them either

If it distracts from your subject, eliminate it! No cluttered backgrounds The near eye should be sharp Avoid bullseye centering Get it right in the camera

Composition AKA Shot Design 2 –

Remember, editors don’t buy crappy pictures – and spouses won’t look at them either

Take a variety of compositions Give your subject room to move… …but close enough to fill the frame! Head and shoulder portraits work for birds too Show some environment – sense of place!

Composition AKA Shot Design –

ExamplesKeeping it simple – blurred background, one subject with environment – vertical centering is OK

Give your subject room to move into the frame

Composition AKA Shot Design –

Examples

Watch for the behavior

A little unsharpness is OK – but something should be pretty sharp!

Composition AKA Shot Design –

Examples

Vary your shutter speeds – use a tripod!

Break the rules occasionally

Flight shots Flight shots – – Show a reference point, or Show a reference point, or blue skyblue sky

Behavior Behavior 22

Eating

Hunting (bring a flash?)

Nest-building

Feeding

Seasonal Behavior: Spring and Fall migrationSeasonal Behavior: Spring and Fall migration

North in Spring to Alaska & Arctic for food / mating

South in Fall to go where the food is

Some birds live here year-round

There are always migrants along the Flyway

Winter

Spring,before heading north

Nesting

Seasonal BehaviorSeasonal Behavior

Raising young

Mating / courtship

Where the birds are… Where the birds are…

No live native guides?Use a field guide! Santa Clara County Audubon’s Santa Clara County Audubon’s Birding at the Bottom of Birding at the Bottom of

the Baythe Bay Sibley’s Sibley’s Field Guide to Birds of the Western U.S.Field Guide to Birds of the Western U.S. Baicich’s Baicich’s Nests, Eggs and NestlingsNests, Eggs and Nestlings Stoke’s Stoke’s Field Guide to Bird Songs Field Guide to Bird Songs (Audio CD set)(Audio CD set) iBird app for iPhone or Android – great bird call guide, but iBird app for iPhone or Android – great bird call guide, but

don’t use bird calls in the field!don’t use bird calls in the field!

Ask a native guide.

Avoid the Digital Shoebox afterwards…

Download files from memory cards Use image file management software –

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – file management and basic editing

• DigitalPro – file management, picture submission

Let’s go outside and play…Let’s go outside and play…

More Resources and InfoMore Resources and Info

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR’s Don Edwards SF Bay NWR’s TidelineTideline newsletter for more free bird newsletter for more free bird programsprograms

Santa Clara Audubon’s Bay Area Bird Photographers group for photo Santa Clara Audubon’s Bay Area Bird Photographers group for photo helphelp

[email protected] for bird location [email protected] for bird location tips.