How are you getting to the birds to shoot with your camera?

I've seen some nice bird photos and wondering where are you all finding these winged friends? I was thinking about a zoo, but wanted to see if there was common places to find them. I'm guessing many of you are going to say the woods or wild. What are some tips to finding them, shooting them? Do you toss out bird food and just wait for them?

I set up feeders for both songbirds and hummingbirds.
A lot of times, I set my camera on a tripod, pre-focus on the plane of the feeder and user a radio remote shutter to snap the shots when the little guys come to the feeder. For most of the eagles, I walk up to the tree, say hello and patiently wait for them to move (or "pose").

I use a boat. It gets me in quietly to wildlife that for the most part don't see a lot of human traffic. I also go to some of the parks in Orlando. The zoo is a good idea too. I think the use of a lens over 200mm is important too.

I should also mention when yo put out seed, pull up a comfy chair and sit very still and quiet. The birds will get used to you after a while.

I go out in the woods, put on my ghilles suit and sit quietly and wait.

telephoto

Conner -
What types of birds are you most interested in photographing? Small backyard type birds .... birds in the wild? Others?

Bird photography is one of my primary passions, having sold images, been published, contribute to Cornell Labs, won awards, etc. So I can talk on this subject until I bore most people.

I have an aviary area set up on our property that incorporates feeders, water and then photo opportunity perches. I use this for my yard bird images.

I make 3-4 trips to Florida each year, just for bird photography. You live in a birding mecca .... lots of places to go ... of course the first places are the beaches for the shore birds and waders. I have not worked the south Florida area .... farthest south for me has been Everglades. Central Florida has lots of opportunities and I could create a long list of great places to try.

There are two excellent places in Florida to photograph nesting wading birds each year. Both are tourist sites, but not truly zoos. Alligator Farm in St. Augustine and Gator Land, near Orlando. (Gator Farm is my favorite) Both locations have large groups of nesting Egrets (all), Herons, Ibis, Spoonbills, etc. You work from catwalks over the alligators, the gators ironically create a safe haven for the nesting birds, providing them protection from predators.

The Miami area has the bonus of captive Flamingos and wild parrots of all kinds. Lots of places up the east coast from you, that are an easy day trip for numerous subjects.

The Florida birding community has a very active email listserve that allows folks to post bird sighting reports, which allow you to know where others are seeing certain birds. The reports are sent by email to subscribers of the list (free).

Florida Birding List Serve

Bird photography gets much easier with a long lens. I personally recommend at least 400mm, if possible.

Easily 99% of my bird images are of wild birds, in natural settings. This takes some knowledge of where to go, habits of the birds, patience and lots of practice .... but if I can do it so can you.

If you want some other great spots for bird photography in Florida drop me a PM (private message) and I will give you my opinions.

Honestly guys, I don't have a single clue about what birds I want to shoot, I don't know much about them. All I know is that I would like to get involved into bird photography. So your tips and suggestions are very helpful!

Thank you

bhowdy

I dabble in the birds, I'm of the opinion virtually any wild bird is worth shooting, really. So get out there and shoot whatever you can find....or just start right at home in your backyard. An easy trick is to put out food in your yard that's just out of view, behind say, a branch or stump or mound of leaves. Then set up a telephoto and wait for the songbirds to land.

Some wild ones are very easy to start with. Mallard ducks, Canadian geese, and egrets for example.

One thing to remember, birds don't recognize shapes so much as movement. If you sit still long enough, they'll get used to you. The sit and wait approach really works. Patience is the name of the game.

Set up some bird feeders

For seagulls... have a friend wear a bread crumb suit.. Make sure you take out a policy before hand.

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Thanks Bob for all of the pointers, I love humming birds myself and found that Colorado is a great place for shooting them in the wild.

chasrich wrote: For seagulls... have a friend wear a bread crumb suit.. Make sure you take out a policy before hand.

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+1

I use feeding, set up a blind, have a boat, and hang out near nesting sites. If I stay awake, can get pretty good shots.....

My bird photos are all over. Some are from my own backyard, with or without feeder. There is a state park that is 10mins from me, that has several bird feeders, that same park, I'll walk around to shoot birds in trees, eating the berries from the trees etc.. My husband and I bought kayaks so we can go down the river to shoot eagles and herons (but more for the eagles) as the herons I can get shots just by accessing the river from many different areas, or going to the local state park. That same state park, I have taken countless of pictures of turkey vultures and hawks. When I lived in the country, I had bird feed out and many different species of birds came to visit (I wish I had these same birds here in town).
My husband and I also travel to get bird photos....3hrs south from us in Maryland is a dam on the same river that is near me. Eagles pretty much live at this dam to fish. 2hrs north of me in NY, there is a wildlife refuge where we have photograph herons, eagles, ospreys and hawks all in the wild.
We have gone to zoos, but most of my wildlife photos are 100% wildlife.

With wildlife, you have to sit, wait, have patience and go where they go....(that's if you want more then the backyard bird).