I initially intended this post to cover the techniques involved in photographing songbirds. Instead I'd like to take the opportunity to exhibit a few instances of my bird photography. I've also put together a video that I'll embed in this article. In it, I talk through how I went about editing one of these images, step by step.
Robin. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/5.6, 340mm, 1/640 sec, ISO 800
Having a competent and consistent editing technique can ensure that you get the most out of your images. I find that this is especially important with wildlife photography. Photographing small, fast moving subjects, in changing lighting conditions, can often push the technical limitations of your camera. In these instances, a good editing technique can help you to preserve images that may otherwise be lost to under/overexposure or excessive noise.
Female Chaffinch. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/6.3, 390mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 800
Male Chaffinch. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/6.3, 500mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 800
Photographing wildlife can really be very rewarding. Recent psychological studies have even shown that getting out into nature and birdwatching can be beneficial for your mental health. Small songbirds can make for especially interesting subjects as they are extremely active throughout the course of their day. This makes them perfect, small and erratic targets with which to hone your shooting skills.
Great Tit. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/640 sec, ISO 1250
Blue Tit. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/800 sec, ISO 800
Male Redstart. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/1250 sec, ISO 1600
Female Redstart. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600
Wren. Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm C @ f/7.1, 500mm, 1/400 sec, ISO 1000
Embedded below is a video that I made talking through how I edited the male chaffinch photo. It's not a tutorial as such, but rather an image editing walk-through. I hope you find the information in the video useful, let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in similar content in the future.
Chaffinch Lightroom Edit from Alex White on Vimeo.
The Nik Collection plug-ins referenced in the video can be downloaded for free here...
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All images present in this article are © Alexander White
