Feeder portraiture

I am pretty sure that every single bird photographer is guilty of occasional creeping around some bird feeder and taking advantage of the bird’s feeding frenzy. If you have never tried that, I can only recommend it. Luring animals to take a photograph might be considered cheating by some ortodox wildlife photographers, but since there is nothing wrong in feeding the birds itself (especially during winter), I see no harm in using such opportunity to take some nice pictures. Some people even build feeders for that very purpose and arrange the surroundings to achieve the best photographic conditions with nice branches, water elements etc. In fact, making exactly that is kind of my dream, but it is not that easy to do properly in the city downtown, where I live…

These pictures of great and blue tits were taken once again at Vrbenské ponds near České Budějovice. It is a great place for bird photography, even though it is close to the city. There are several feeding stations (built and supplied probably by locals), which look like some islands of life in otherwise seemingly lifeless winter landscape.

There are couple advantages of taking pictures near a feeder. First of all, you don’t need to chase the wildlife around. It will come to you. How close you can get depends on the species, whether the birds are used to people being around or not, or your ability to hide. If the feeder is located near human habitats (which it often is), the birds usually don’t mind if you stand several metres away. They might be shy at first, but hunger is pretty strong motivation to overcome fear. Just act in a calm manner and it will be fine.

The other great advantage is better control over photographic conditions. Since your subject is not going anywhere (or is coming back soon), you have enough time to find the best angle, best background etc. This way it is easier to achieve nice light coming towards the bird and nice subject separation (usually by focusing on a branch which is away enough from the background).

You might ask, how to “choose” a branch, to focus on? Don’t the birds prefer to rather make their own minds of where to land? Well, yes, they do. But you are not completely helpless here. All you need to know is, that small birds rarely come straight to the feeder to eat. They pretty much always check the surroundings for any danger, so they to tend land on the branches slightly above the food source first. This knowledge alone can sometimes enable you to make pretty good estimate, which branches will serve as natural fashion catwalk for the your feathered models.

That is exactly, how I took the first two pictures contained in this post. It was January, so the winter was still in its full power. It took about 10-15 minutes for the birds to get used to my presence. During that time it was clear, which branch the birds prefer and after that it was only a matter of patience to catch the best moments.

But it doesn't always have to be glamorous photographs with perfect lighting and subtle background, which makes the bird stand out in the image. It is also a great opportunity just to watch the birds interacting with each other and filling their bellies when the food is scarce. And that alone is a treat for any animal lover. Kind of a win-win for everyone involved.

Bits and pieces III.

Hogs, hogs, hogs…