Intro: Photographing Birds

In this instructable I wil be giving you advice and showing you an easy way to take photos of birds. Photographing birds may not be that easy, it is actually tedious and a bit annoying. Why? Birds are animals that can be easily scared and they react quickly by flying. But, if you are careful enough you can take amazing picture of birds around your community. Last semester, I make a project that involved taking pictures of the different species around my community. At first it sounded boring and a lot of work, but it turn out to be fun, amusing, and exciting. The pictures I am posting are some of the pictures I took for the project. Give it a try and you will be amazed with the things you can achieve!

STEP 1: Materials

-Camera (It can be a professional digital camera or a normal digital camera. I personally recommend using a professional digital that have different lenses. )
-A telephoto zoom lens (if you have one professional digital camera)
-Time
-Patience

NOTE:
It my be a good idea to have someone helping you looking for birds. It is an easy way to take more pictures of different bird species. 4 eyes are better than 2!

STEP 2: Tip #1

The first thing you need to do is find a place were there are a lot of trees. It can be a park, a street, or even your backyard. Or it can even just be a big tree. It might be helpful to find a place were there are these trees but were there is not to much noise because birds are animals that get scared easily with just passing by.

STEP 3: Tip #2

The best way to find diversity of birds is when the sun is rising and when the sun is setting. Those are the times were birds are looking for food in trees and are flying around trees searching for food or for a place to sleep.

STEP 4: Tip #3 (taking the Photos)

There are various things you should do to get good pictures:
-Be silent when you are around trees.
-Have your eyes open and your camera ready (there are some unexpected things birds might do)
-It is better if you use your camera without a tripod because that way you can move freely.
-Your camera should be use in sports mode, that way the picture will not be blurry. And make your camera take several shoots.
-It is better to use a telephoto zoom lens because that way you can take photos without getting to much close to the birds and they will not be scared.
-Having some kind of food for them (like bread) will help having more birds near you.
-If you see that a bird is very still and you are able to get near it, go for it and take advantage of it by taking lots of pictures.
-Remember to be patient.
- Do not rush, take your time.

STEP 5: Conclusion

I hope this instructable has help you improve your photography skills. I had a personal experience using this tips and they help me. All the pictures of birds that are published in this instructable I took them using this tips and I experience doing things a different way. This instructable summarizes what I tried.
ONE LAST TIP: Always try to take your picture with natural light to show the colors of the feathers of the bird you are photographing.

Hope it is useful!