Taking that photograph..

Okay, now that we have the gear and skill issue out of the way, I will now do my best to show how to take photos of birds.

Long lens photography is a bit different from regular length (below 200mm) lens photography. Shake is VERY pronounced in long lenses and it takes considerable practice or equipment to perform well in long lens photography.

Yes a hefty tripod will of course be very helpful and VR/IS/OS on the lens and/or Camera body will make night and day difference in image quality but what if these are not available? As for me, I do not have a tripod that I can use for long lens photography so I stay handheld. My D90 + 80-400VR combo is relatively heavy (heavier than a D90 + Kit lens + SB600 setup) but I think I just got used to it. I actually sometimes miss the 'massage' that the shoulder strap gives the back of my neck. :)

Alright, first we let the camera do the work. The settings that I will post are those that are available on my D90 only. Am not sure if these features are available on whatever camera you have, but this should give an idea of how to go about things.

Set to Aperture priority, ISO Assist is Auto, Max ISO is 800 (or higher if your camera can handle the noise well), Spot metering, Minimum Shutter speed to 1/400 and High ISO NR to off then set your lens to its widest opening.

This is the 'rich-man's' settings as with this you are on autopilot. The camera will peg your aperture to the widest opening (5.6 in my case) then set the shutter speed to 1/400, and then decide what ISO to use to compensate for the results by using spot metering. If you have noticed, I did not place a setting for the AF area or how many AF Points to use. This is because although ill-advised, I use single point AF because my lens is horrible when it comes to acquiring a subject. The 80-400 needs good light and contrast between subject and BG to focus properly and any other setting (by my experience) for the AF, is futile.

Why aperture priority? DOF (Depth Of Field) is important in bird photography. As I have said, the subject here will NOT pose for you no matter how hard you pray. You need a good feel for your lens' DOF per Aperture so that you are sure you will get the entire bird in sharp focus. The best pose for this is when the bird's body is parallel to the camera body. Even at close range, there is a good chance that the whole bird will be inside the DOF and will be sharp.

Range - or the distance between the camera and the bird. Most of the time this will be far, 20meters + and so the decision to go wide-open. Wide open means a thin DOF, but small subjects (because of the distance) will still fit. If your subject is really close, like below 10 meters away, I strongly suggest you increase the aperture. It's really a bad feeling when you have a nicely detailed shot of the bird with a blurred beak or tail.

With these settings, your camera should be fast enough to adjust to the lighting situation. Remember, birds fly and most of them are very skittish. Moving from direct sunlight or in the shade very often.

After using this setting for several shots, you can then examine the settings, remember them and then start shooting manual.

Why 1/400? I will repeat.. birds do NOT pose or keep still. well some birds do, like a bittern. BUT, there are two kinds of blur that you need to contend with. Subject movement, and camera shake (or photographer shake) so you need a good shutter speed to freeze the action. So why exactly 400? Well, because I use a 400mm lens, handheld.

Rule: If you are to handhold a long lens, your shutter speed should be the same (at least) or higher than the focal length of your lens. 400mm = 1/400 and higher. Simple as that.

This should be enough to get you going and producing good quality images for now. Next, we talk about WHEN to photograph birds. :)