Photographing wild animals in their natural environment is a captivating experience. In particular, birds are subjects that attract many photographers due to their beauty and graceful "aerial dance". Bird photography is not easy. You need to get ready before you go, learn about birds, and be very patient. Birds do what they want, so you have to wait for a good shot. To get even better photos, practice taking pictures and learn more about birds. You can also use the photo enhancer tool VanceAI Image Enhancer to fix your photos later.

Why My Bird Photography Is Blurry?

Bird photography can be tricky. You're dealing with fast-moving subjects and often not ideal lighting conditions. There are a couple of main culprits behind blurry bird photos:

Camera Shake: When you handhold your camera, even the slightest movement can blur your image. This is especially true when using a telephoto lens, which magnifies any shake.

Slow Shutter Speed: Birds are active creatures, and if your shutter speed isn't fast enough, you'll capture motion blur as the bird moves.

Here are some ways to tackle blurry bird photography:

Increase Shutter Speed: A good rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed that's at least 1/ focal length. So, if you're using a 300mm lens, you'd want a shutter speed of 1/300s or faster.

Use a Tripod: A tripod will stabilize your camera and eliminate the camera shake. This is essential for getting sharp photos of birds, especially in low-light situations.

Focus on the Eye: When focusing on a bird, make sure you're focusing on its eye. This will ensure that the most important part of the image is sharp.

Burst Mode: Most cameras have a burst mode that allows you to take multiple photos in rapid succession. This is a great way to capture sharp photos of birds in motion.

Practice Panning: If you're photographing a bird in flight, you can try panning with the bird. This means moving your camera smoothly with the bird as it flies. This will help to keep the bird sharp while blurring the background.

By following these tips, you can improve your bird photography. Even if you have some problems in the early stage of shooting, you can also use AI tools to enhance your photos later. You can use the image quality enhancer to level up your photos.

How to Take Sharp Bird Photography with VanceAI?

Unblur bird photos with VanceAI Image Sharpener

Product Free Speed  Multitasking  AI-based Product      Online Targeted Sharpen Model
VanceAI Image Sharpener ×
(3 credits/month for trial)
√(Sharpening image while enhancing image quality)   √ √(Four Sharpen Models)

Using this VanceAI Image Sharpener powered by VanceAI only has a few simple steps to follow.

Step 1: Click AI Image Sharpener to access the tool directly. Then upload the photos you want to sharpen.

VanceAI Image Sharpener home screen
 
Step 2:  Select your photos. You have two options. You can choose to adjust the sharpness and noise reduction yourself using the sliders, or you can let the tool do it automatically. After you decide, click ”Start to Process” to unblur image.

VanceAI workspace

Step 3: After a few seconds, you will be able to download the fixed pictures. Before that, you can compare the initial photo with the improved one like in the example below. Just look at the flamingo’s eyes. The result is amazing. This is the most important tip out of the bird photography tips presented here if you are at the beginning of your career as a bird photographer. So, use this image sharpener like a magic wand. It does look easy, doesn't it? Then try to sharpen your image in the pop-up window on the right. Of course, you can also choose to download it directly. 

It does look easy, doesn't it? Then try to sharpen your image in the pop-up window on the right without leaving this article. Of course, you can also choose to download it directly.

tips for bird photography VanceAI
 

Enhance bird photo quality with VanceAI Image Enhancer

Optional Step 2:

Use VanceAI Image Enhancer to enhance the full details of bird photography or to improve the quality to a higher level in seconds.

The tool can also do some surprising things for your bird photos. It can make the details look extra sharp and give you super HD pictures. It can even improve your photos in other ways. Like increasing resolution, sharpening details, and improving quality to make photo hd.

the homepage of VanceAI Image Enhancer

Bird Photography Tips

Want to take amazing pictures of birds? We can help!

Here are some tips and tricks to improve your bird photography.

1. Locating Birds

shoot the birds

A simple and inexpensive way to start your expertise in the field is the yard of your house, or, if you live in a flat, the nearby park. It is impossible not to find some birds where you live, which will offer you valuable practice hours. If you can travel, just Google search to find out what species are in that area (mountain, sea, etc.) or country/city. Preferably choose to travel on trails with natural obstacles: reeds, rocks, trees, and ruined buildings. Photography in open areas is difficult to do, especially in the absence of a high-performance camera.

2. Know Well the Bird You Want to Shoot

bird photography tips and techniques

Know your subjects in order to shoot the birds. Knowing which birds you like to photograph will help you learn more about them. It'll be like having your own bird guide, and you'll be extra motivated to find out all you can! It will help you a lot in photographing them once you know the feeding habits, behaviors, and even the mating seasons of the birds.

3. Select Background Carefully

bird photography tips

In general, the background must be smooth and complete the subject. In many cases it will be difficult to control this because it is not up to you. First and foremost, it would be good to make sure that there is a fairly large distance between the bird and the objects behind it. The greater the distance, the less obvious objects from the background will not and  they will not crowd the image.

4. Take Sharp Bird Photography 

You need a couple of things: a tripod or monopod, the correct ISO, aperture value and shutter speed. If you are a beginner, you will not always be able to get sharp photos. The good news is that this will be remedied over time by practice and by keeping in mind these tips for bird photography. Until then, you can use VanceAI Image Sharpener to make AI unblur image.

how to photograph birds

This amazing software can fix any blurry pictures. Unblur image online is easy and free and this is the best image sharpening tool in 2022. The AI algorithms can fix any blurry pictures and artifacts while improving image quality.

5. Make Full Use of Natural Light 

tips for bird photography

Light is the main key to photography. How to photograph birds in the most appropriate light? Well, we suggest to shoot the birds early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Mornings are usually best for photographing birds because that’s when they are looking for food. Also in the evening light, long shadows can add a touch of drama to the image. You can take advantage of the light coming from behind of the subject- it brings magic and surrealism to photos.

6. Focus on Birds' eyes

bird photography

Try as much as possible to focus the bird's eyes. It is acceptable to have a slightly blurred tail or other parts of the bird. The eyes are the most important element of a bird and if they are not in sharp focus, you’ll have a beautiful image in vain. Eyes are the most expressive.

7. Fill the Frame

shoot the birds

Bokeh and clean backgrounds are great because it will be difficult to control the background yourself. It is easy for the viewer to focus on the main subject when you have an individual bird. Plus, it looks artistic and clean. In this way, the splendor of the bird species is highlighted.

8. Capture Their Actions

bird photography tips

Here are some tips for bird photography to capture their actions. Leave the birds alone for a few moments if the birds feel stressed by your presence until they relax. Also, you can give them food to attract them. Thus, you will have the opportunity to photograph them with open wings, on landing and while eating. Of course, with patience, you can shoot the birds in their amazing flight. Don't forget to reduce your sudden movements when you want to shoot the birds.

9. Shoot the Birds at High Shutter Speeds 

how to photograph birds

We all know that birds fly in an instant, and disappear in an instant. To capture a bird in flight, you must set a short exposure time, preferably at least 1/1600th of a second, with 1/4000th of a second being the highest.

10. Shoot the Birds from Different Angles

tips for bird photography

Shoot the birds from different angles for the perfect and artistic picture. Take bird photos from different angles, not just eye level! Try shooting from below, above, the side, or even the ground. You can also move closer or farther away from the bird.

You may be interested in other animal photography techniques, take a look!

About VanceAI

VanceAI is a full-suite image enhancer based on advanced AI algorithms. This suite is becoming more and more indispensable for photographers because of how incredibly useful it is. You can enlarge photos without losing quality, fix blurred pictures, remove backgrounds, and so on. Besides the technical side, it offers fun and creative tools such as Toongineer Cartoonizer.

Final Thoughts

Bird photography is a real challenge, but extremely satisfying. With these bird photography tips and techniques, with patience and perseverance, you will shoot the birds like a pro. Until then, just practice and use the VanceAI suite if you need it. It saves your pictures while making unfocused subjects focus automatically. I hope this article will contribute to you becoming a professional photographer.

Also read: Best 5 Wedding Photo Editing Tips
 

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Jason Moth
Jason Moth
I have been writing for a living for nearly a decade now and always had an interest in innovative new technologies, so writing for Vance AI was an opportunity I just couldn’t resist. My main goal here is to teach you how to use artificial intelligence tools in ways you may not have considered before. So if you want to learn how to have fun with Vance AI just check out my articles. You can see even more of my work over on my own website FictionTalk.