Bird Photography 10 Mistakes Solutions v0.2 PDF

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Introduction
“Quit mistakes be- M ost of the books, articles, seminars, workshops and so on, concentrate on what is
right. But, hardly anyone out there is telling you what is wrong.
cause there are no We learn from mistakes – committed by us and others – which makes us avoid them and do
retakes!” only the good things in life. If you did not know what a mistake is, then you wouldn’t know
why you should avoid it.
This eBook is a guideline for you understand the mistakes in bird photography and how to
avoid them. It is crucial not to commit these mistakes because there are no retakes in bird
photography.
“A moment once gone is gone forever!”

This is by no means a comprehensive eBook but definitely worth a read as it would em-
power with the right knowledge in less than an hour. It steers you in the right direction…
always.
page 4 | www.naturephotographysimplified.com
Table Of Contents
1. Bad Exposure 6
2. Bad Light 11
3. Bad Composition 15
4. Bad Focus 19
5. Wrong Point of View 24
6. Wrong Head Angle 31
7. Wrong Background 35
8. Bad Processing 43
9. Wrong Place 48
10. Wrong Expectations 53
1
Bad Exposure
“The best exposure is the one that works.” PRO TIP
Charles H. Traub
Always check the ex-
posure before shoot-
ing multiple shots.
G etting the right exposure at all the times is not an easy job. If you have too
much expectation on yourself to get perfect exposure for all the shots, then you
Never rely too much
are bound to be unhappy. on post-processing
However, it is necessary to get the right exposure during the critical times because
it can make or break a photograph. There would not be much time to nail down
to get back the de-
the exposure by using multiple shots to check the exposure. You should be able to
make exposure adjustments within seconds, sometimes less than that.
tails. A small change
Bad exposure is generally the result of either wrong settings or lighting condition
in exposure results
or composition. Assuming that you shoot in RAW mode, you might be able to get in huge impact on
away with slight underexposure or overexposure issues. You might be able to re-
trieve details if it is +/- 1/3 stop to 1/2 stops under or over exposed. the output.
www.naturephotographysimplified.com | page 7
Take a look at the example of a pied kingfisher
in the golden hours of Sunset. There are hardly
any details in the Sun disk due to overexpo-
sure. It is clearly shown in the histogram that
plenty of pixels are clipped to the right-hand
side of the histogram.
I have brought down the exposure by 2 stops

using Exposure Compensation feature of the
RAW converter. But still there are no details on
the Sun disk.
This photograph is taken just after few sec-
onds with -1 stop exposure compensation
applied in-camera. Now you can clearly
see the details and the colors in the Sun
disk.
This is a clear example of how a small

change in exposure might lead to a big dif-
ference in the final output!
But, you won’t have too much time in the

field to do all the adjustments, so you have
to assess the situation and get the right set-
tings in the field before it is too late.
2
Bad Light
PRO TIP “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it.
Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you
are worth, and you will know the key to photogra-
Gorgeous light can phy.”
turn a fairly sim- George Eastman
ple scene into an
extraordinary one.
Plan to go before L ight is the most important aspect of photography. As you already know from
my 15 Incredible Bird Photography Tips eBook about the quality and direc-
tion of light, we wouldn’t discuss it much here.
dawn and stay be- Quality of the light defines whether the light is soft or hard. Soft light is generally
yond dusk. You will two hour after Sunrise and one and half hour before Sunset. This is often the best
lighting condition for photography.
definitely be reward- The direction of light can be front, side, or back with front light being the most
ed with some excep- widely used light for bird photography. Front light avoids any sort of shadow cast,
whereas side light casts shadow onto some parts of the bird.
tional photographs. Back light is generally used for creative photographs of the birds where bird itself
is usually devoid of details (silhouette) and the background is colorful.
Most important thing is to wait for the right light and freeze that fleeting moment
before it is gone forever.
Take a look at the this photograph of an Indian peafowl.
This silhouette shot has the shape brilliantly defined for
both peafowl and the beautiful branch.
What about the light? It is horrible!
Take a look at this photograph now.
Isn’t it mind-blowing? It is the same scene taken just be-

fore few seconds. It was the last light of the day and was
gorgeous.
The light plays a critical role in turning an ordinary scene

into an extraordinary one.
“If you want to be a better photographer, pay ut-

most attention to the light – always.”
3
Bad Composition
PRO TIP “There is no better time to crop a bad composition
than just before you press the shutter release. “
Place the bird Bryan Peterson
off-centered by us-
ing Rule-of-Thirds
and give enough C omposition is one of the most ignored concepts in photography. There are at
least 10 times more badly composed images compared to the good ones!
breathing space, as You might complain that there are many composition techniques to understand
per Rule of Spaces, and apply. Though it is true, you need only a handful of them in bird photography.
The Rule of Thirds and the Rule of Spaces are the two most important ones you
along the bird’s di- should remember.
rection of gaze or Often I see that there is no space around the bird or some parts of the bird are cut.
Sometimes the wings, the legs, or beak are cut making the bird look awkward. Can
movement you imagine your photograph with hands or legs or head cut?
See how this Cattle Egret looks handicapped
because its legs are cut. Our mind always tries to
complete an untold story and in this it desper-
ately tries to complete the legs to no avail.
A proper composition would look like this.

Though its legs are beneath the ridge, our mind
would complete it because there is enough space
towards the bottom of the frame.
Other common mistake is to place the bird in
the centre of the frame. In this photograph of
a Great White Pelican is in the centre which
makes the space around the bird same leading
to a static composition.
Note: If the bird is looking towards the camera then

it might make some sense, though you should still
make use of the rule of thirds.
By following the rule of thirds and the rule of

spaces, I have composed the white pelican in a
much compelling way.
The bird is off-centred making this image

more dynamic and there is enough space in
front of the Great White Pelican to move.
4
Bad Focus
PRO TIP “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close
enough.”
Zoom in to the criti- Robert Capa
cal parts of the pho-

tograph to check
for the sharpness in I t is quite common to blame the autofocus system for your out-of-focus photo-
graphs. There are multiple factors that come into play while you are getting the
Camera’s LCD mon- sharp focus:
• There could be distractions in the foreground
itor. You cannot be • Autofocus might have locked to a different object than the bird
sure of the sharpness • Shutter speed is probably too slow
unless you zoom in • Your hand-holding technique is wrong
and check carefully. • Action is too fast that your autofocus system is unable to lock onto the subject
Getting a sharp focus on a bird could be a daunting task because many birds are
tiny and you might not have enough reach. Since they are tiny, it could be very
hard for autofocus system to detect the bird and lock on to it. This becomes more
difficult when there is a lot of other distracting objects surrounding the bird.
You have to keep a check on background and wait for the bird to assume back-
ground that is far enough and also complementing the bird. Only when there is a
contrast between the bird and the background,
you would get the autofocus system working
to its best. This will in turn result in sharp pic-
tures.
When autofocus has a problem locking onto

the bird because there is some other clearly
defined object in the front, you have to choose
proper auto focus point and guide the autofo-
cus system accordingly.
Keep a check on shutter speed to see if you

have fairly decent shutter speed. Check my
article on how to determine the best shutter
speed to avoid any camera shake.
If the bird is too fast and the contrast (light

and/or color) is not enough, then autofocus
system wouldn’t be able to lock the focus. You
have to wait for the right light or the right
background in such cases.
No matter what you do to achieve sharp focus,

you shouldn’t commit a mistake of believing
what you see in your tiny LCD monitor.
Take a look at this image this Hoopoe. Do you

see any out-of-focus areas in the above photo-
graph? Probably not.
Take a look at the zoomed version. Can you

see it now? Isn’t it a ruined photograph?
With experience, you would come to
know if the focus is perfect or not. But
till then, you should always make sure
to zoom in on the critical parts in your
LCD monitor to check the sharpness.
If you fail to do that and keep on taking

series of shots of the bird, then all your
photographs would be ruined. Worst is
if you have the habit of using AF-lock
button, all your photographs are bound
to be out-of-focus.
Once you know that the focus is off the

critical part of the bird – its eye – you
can adjust the focus point and get the
sharper image, as I did in the pervious-
ly shown photograph.
Isn’t it sharp now?
Here is the close-up. It is tack sharp, as

it should be.
5
Wrong Point Of View
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” PRO TIP
- Ansel Adams
Do not shoot a bird
from your eye-level,
which is your point-
M ost people are not aware of the fact that points of view matters a lot when it
comes to making evocative photographs. of-view. Always
Imagine a situation where you have to photograph a bird which is just a foot and
shoot from bird’s
you must be at least 5 feet tall. It’s a common mistake to photograph the bird from
your eye-level.
point-of-view to get
more intimate pho-
Why?
tographs which will
The bird will look like a dwarf or helpless creature from up above.
help viewers to get
If you want to take intimate photographs, then connecting with the bird is critical.
How do you do that? connected
Simple…you have to go to its level to get an eye-contact.
Take a look at this photograph (above)
of a mallard duck taken from my
height. Doesn’t it look like a lonely and
helpless bird?
You cannot form any connection with

the bird, isn’t it?
How about this photograph (below)

of a mallard duck? Doesn’t it look so
adorable now because of the low-angle
shot?
It is not a perfect eye-level photograph

because I wanted to get the reflection
too, but it serves the purpose well and
you can easily connect with this mighty
creature.
What do you say about the above photograph?
Doesn’t it look so beautiful? It is almost as if you are right next to it while it is bath-
ing :-)
That’s the beauty of getting low and taking an intimate photograph of the birds.
Their world is as beautiful as ours.
Here’s another example of my favorite bird – Green Heron.
This photo looks OK, but the question is – is it the best photograph possible?
No, it is not.
Just a simple change in point of view made a whole lot of difference to the end result.
Awesome! Isn’t it?
See…it’s not very difficult to get some of the most evocative images. All that you
have to do it change your point of view and talk in their terms.
You might be wondering what happens when the bird is up above you – when the
bird is in flight, perching high, and so on.
While bird is in flight, it is always good to take it from your eye-level; I don’t recom-
mend you to invest on an airplane :-)
We all know that birds fly way above our eye level, and it is understood by the
viewer too.
But that shouldn’t stop you to take flight photographs when birds are flying at your
eye level. That can be a blessing in disguise!
6
Wrong Head Angle
PRO TIP “While we’re working, we must be conscious of what
we’re doing.”
A good eye contact Henri Cartier-Bresson
with the bird would

be necessary to make
an image more inti- W hile photographing birds, you got to give utmost care to the head angle.
Why? Because if the bird is looking away from you, which also means it is
mate. looking away from the viewer, there is no proper eye-contact.
Imagine that you are talking to your beloved one, but they are not looking towards
you! Doesn’t it hurt your feelings? I think it does.
We want people to pay attention to us when we speak because we want to connect

with them and we want to be heard. Bird looking away also gives the similar feel-
ings in the viewers.
The head of this Common Kingfisher is bent
down in this photograph (above) and the eye
is covered in the shadow except for a small
catchlight.
When you look at only this photograph, you

might wonder what’s wrong! I don’t blame
you for that.
Take a look at this one (below) and now feel

the impact with just a small change. You can
connect with the kingfisher on a much deep-
er level and probably understand its deep
thought back in its mind about its prey.
Subtle differences make or break the photograph when it comes to head angle.
Look at the below example of the Great Egret standing on the fence.
Isn’t it a good indication of how a slight change in head angle invokes different
feelings in you?
7
Wrong Background
PRO TIP “The art of photography is all about directing the at-
tention of the viewer.”
Once you decide Steven Pinker
on the subject, stop

thinking about it and
start thinking about B ackground makes the picture! You mull over these words over and over again
for days until it becomes a natural act. Your eyes should automagically search
everything else that for the better background under all circumstances.
is in the frame. Is This one little change in thinking would lead to a drastic improvement in your bird
photographs and other photographs too.
something distract- Subject is what draws you to take out your camera and press the shutter. If you just
ing? Throw it out! Is concentrate on the bird (or your main subject), then it is the biggest mistake you
can commit.
something comple- Am I saying that the subject is not important? Am I crazy?
menting? Include it! No…definitely not. A beautiful subject with a bad background would make no
sense to the viewer. When you are taking a photograph, you are captured by the
beauty of the bird and in that emotional rush you would forget about everything
else.
But the viewer doesn’t forgive anything that is in the photograph. They will scruti-
nize the entire photograph not just the bird!
Bird is anyway beautiful, that’s the reason you are taking photograph, but what is
more important is the background! So, it is essential care for the background much
more than the bird itself.
Confused?
It’s common when you hear it for the first time. Let me help you make it clear and
clearer.
Check this example of a Great Egret in flight. It’s a beautiful photograph with prop-
er wings position, light, composition, and the call of the bird!
But the background is plain (and boring) with no details at all turning it to an ordi-
nary photograph.
Now, have a look at this one.
Which one do you like now? Hopefully the second one :)
The bird looks gorgeous now. It is full of life because of the early morning sunlight
and the plain blue background that complements the white plumage and the yel-
low beak of the bird.
How about taking it further?
This photograph has so much more to offer than just the bird. The bird’s wings po-
sition, early morning golden light, head angle, green patches and the water surface
in the background giving you a hint of the habitat.
In all, this photograph has a story to it too.
I am never tired of preaching about the background. Because of the simple reason
that you just cannot ignore it!
Here’s another classic example of two Indian Darters (Snakebirds) fighting. Check
how the busy background is taking away all the fun in this photograph.
And now see the magic unfold!
Do you believe now that background can make or break any picture?
You better do :)
8
Bad Processing
“The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s PRO TIP
score, and the print the performance.”
- Ansel Adams You need a good
RAW file (or neg-
ative) with great
T here are very few photographers who do not want to post-process their images,
but there are a whole lot of others who would like to. If you belong to the latter details, tonal vari-
category, read on.
ations, and colors
Though digital post-processing software has given a darkroom setup to everyone
who owns a digital camera, hardly many people care to understand the process.
with no obvious is-
They think of post-processing as a way of altering their images and making some- sues like overexpo-
thing out of nothing. That’s not good and neither will it do any good to your pho-
tography!
sure, underexposure,
With a good RAW file you would be able to bring back the vision you had in mind
bad light, or com-
when you made the photograph. position to make a
“Post-processing should be an integral part in the image making process good photograph
not an after-thought process.”
great!
If you have subscribed to my blog (I believe which is why you have this eB-
ook), then you should have got a series of newsletters on
post-processing discussing many aspects. If you have re-
cently joined my list, you will get it soon.
For now, let us take a look at the adverse effect of bad pro-
cessing on one of my favorite images of Rose-ringed Para-
keet.
Take a look at the properly processed image depicting

what was in reality – the color, contrast, sharpness, etc.
Now we will go through some of the common mistakes
that you should avoid at any cost if you want to take best advantage of post-pro-
cessing.
Too much Contrast leads to over saturation as shown (above left). Parakeet and
the tree branch have become yellowish and the blue sky turned into some artificial
color.
Oversaturation tends to give the unrealistic look and feel to the overall image
(above right). All the colors are saturated equally in case of oversaturation as op-
posed to the contrast case where the colors are saturated relative to each other.
The deadly mistake many people commit is the over reduction of noise. Noise
reduction is almost always a necessity for bird photographers due to the need of
higher ISOs to freeze the action.
But, that doesn’t mean you just reduce the noise without caring for the details.
Here’s an important thing to remember:
“Noise resides in the areas of gradual change and shadow regions.”

Birds are usually full of details leading to very less noise. Noise reduction should
be done selectively only for the background. Otherwise this is what you will end
up getting (top) – a wax statue with all the fine details smudged!
Another biggest mistake is to oversharpen the image. The output looks ugly and
fine details look like sharp pointed wires (bottom). That’s not good at all.
Look at the original processed image. It is just as sharp as
is necessary.
“Several times it is better to sharpen it a bit less

compared to more.”
The power of post-processing is so much that there are
much more books on post-processing than there are on
photography!
As a matter of fact, I have written an eBook on post-pro-

cessing too, but exclusively for bird photographers. If you
are interested, have a look at my post-processing eBook
“A Step-by-Step Post-Processing Bird Photographs using
Lightroom and Photoshop.”
9
Wrong Place
“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready PRO TIP
to have somebody click the shutter.”
– Ansel Adams Next time you want
to photograph a bird
species, check the
M any a times, you end up cursing yourself for not being able to produce pho-
tographs that would wow the viewers. You might even decide not to photo- places where you get
graph that species altogether because it is just not listening to your commands.
them in abundance
That’s not uncommon when it comes to bird photography.
or you get them
I have cursed myself much more than anyone else I think. I have this habit of going
behind some birds relentlessly until I get what I want. This means I am asking for to photograph up-
trouble.
close. Then it is mat-
Sometimes I succeed but many a times I do not. After some point, I would understand
that nothing is in my control and I leave it to nature.
ter of time and hav-
But, there are things that you should know. Sometimes, you are trying to photo- ing sound technical
graph a species in the wrong place and also wrong time.
knowledge to pull of
Some species are in abundance in some places especially during migration season
and also more tolerable to the human presence. There might be places where some
those fantastic shots.
species that are usually very skittish are much more tolerable to your presence than
you could imagine.
I am not kidding! This common king-
fisher in the below photograph allowed
people to take photographs from their
mobile! Can you believe seeing this
jewel of nature up close from 3 to 4
feet?
This guy allows you to go so close to

in Keoladeo National Park (formerly
known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary)
in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India that you
might literally end up motivated to
even touch it :-)
In fact, I had to move few steps back to

focus with my 600mm lens!
Consider the photograph of a lone

Green Bee-eater photograph that I took
in my friend’s resort in Kabini.
This is the best photograph that I could

take for a fairly long distance. I did
crop quite a bit to get this composition.
I spent considerable time photograph-

ing this bee-eater, but it would just fly
away that moment there is any move-
ment.
There is a place called Naguvanahalli near Mysore, India. This place is known for
the congregation of Blue-tailed Green Bee-eaters during breeding season. They
are all over the place in a very small area. You can get some of the fantastic photo-
graphs that you would aspire.
Here are some of my favorite photographs of these colorful birds.
Isn’t it cool?
If you didn’t get to photograph some of your favorite spe-

cies, don’t get disappointed. Search for the places where
there will be lot more opportunities.
What if you don’t get any other place nearby?
Don’t lose hopes. Check the next chapter to know how I

nailed down the shot of an Indian peafowl that I visual-
ized. You can do something similar.
10
Wrong Expectations
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
PRO TIP
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Good photographers
always understand
the fact that it is the
patience, persever- H ow many times have you thought that some photographers are always lucky?
They seem to get beautiful bird photographs every time?
ance, and passion for I presume you do it every day if you are like I was before few years.
photography which You just cannot seem to get at least a few good photographs worth sharing, forget
about getting it every time. Isn’t it?
helps them to pro- Ok…let me tell you that you would be relieved of this tension and pressure in next
duce great photo- minute. You will free yourself of these cursing and enjoy your bird photography!
graphs. What is the reason behind these frustrations?
The core reason is that you think that the experienced or professional or popular
photographers that you love are the lucky guys who would get the bird to pose
the way they want. You might even say to yourself that they have all the expensive
equipment they need and they have luxury of traveling to places, etc, etc. to console
yourself.
Believe me…that is way far from the truth.
For a bird, it doesn’t matter whether you are an experienced or a professional pho-
tographer. It is common sense that is often overlooked by many beginners.
A bird doesn’t differentiate between one from another.
So, what makes some photographers to consistently produce better photographs?
It’s simple.
I can bet that no great photographer would go a location and start shooting imme-
diately and pack up in minutes with loads of great photographs to share.
The fact is that they might return with no photographs despite spending a day in
the field. I am not kidding…it happens!
“It happens only when you know what you want.”

You see, there is not much of a difference between you and any other photogra-
pher. You need to strictly believe in this and relieve yourself of constant frustration.
This very understanding that it requires patience, perseverance, and passion for
making a worthy photograph will open up a plethora of opportunities for you. It
will steer you in the right direction in getting the best out of yourself and the scene.
Here is a simple story that I think proves this point.
When I ended up in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, I wanted to make a silhouette of In-

dian peafowl against the Sun disk.
The first day I went to the spot, there was
one peafowl on the bald tree with white Sun
disk on the other side. I quickly snapped few
frames and tried to get myself into a position
where I could get the peafowl behind the Sun
disk.
But by the time I adjusted myself, it was gone.
Though I did not get what I wanted, I was

quite happy that I would definitely be able to
get what I wanted if I come to that spot the
next day.
Every day I would go to the same place and

wait for the India peafowls to come on to a
branch which would get me a beautiful silhou-
ette with the orange Sun disk behind it.
Six days pass with no luck at all! What seemed

to be an easy task turned out to be a very
tough one indeed!
Either the Sun is behind the clouds or the

peafowl decides to fly off or go to a different
branch.
Seventh day I got lucky with a peafowl sitting

on the right branch as the Sun rose. But, it was
disappointing to see that there was a cloud
cover.
Few minutes pass by and another pea-
fowl comes into the same spot, but the
Sun is covered again.
Though it was a nice scene, the bird

was not aligned with the Sun and the
disk was obscured by the clouds.
Sun was slowly going up and out of

the cloud cover. I was sure the Sun disk
will be completely visible in few sec-
onds.
My heart was pumping as I got kind of

a mental block unable to decide what
to do. The Sun is high up than the bird.
At this instant I was desperate enough

to get the bird against the Sun disk –
you know I have waited this long and
I don’t want to miss this opportunity
no matter what happens – and started
moving up and down the place.
It was the Eureka moment in my life
when I realized that going low would
get the bird against the rising Sun.
There was this adrenaline rush and had

to do something about it as quickly as
I can because it won’t last for even a
minute.
Two of my most trusted cycle-rickshaw people and Beerendar came to my rescue.
They quickly got my tripod 1 step down as I desperately tried to get the composi-
tion right with the right settings.
And voila…I got what I wanted! Turn this page to see the result of all the efforts of
so many days and years of practice.
Next moment, the peafowl decided to fly to the upper branch leaving me exhilarat-
ed.
As I write these lines, my hands are shivering as I relive that moment. What a mo-
ment to remember in my life!
This proves the point we should always remember:
“Luck favors the prepared!”

Read about my photo story about Keoladeo National Park (formerly known as
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary) in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. I have written about my
favorite rickshaw people Paramanand (or popularly known by his nickname Gab-
ru) and Beerendar along with their photos 
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt thanks to both Gabru
and Beerendar.
Find Out Yourself
“There are at least Not satisfied with the number of photographs presented in this eBook?
No worries…best way to learn is to check out the portfolios of your favourite pho-
100 bad photographs tographers. You can see that most good photographers share only their best pho-
for 1 worthy photo- tographs. They would have applied all the above principles before making those
memorable photographs.
graph. Never lose If you love my photographs, do to check out my portfolio website too.
hope and never stop >> Click here to check out my portfolio <<
trying.” If you have 3 Ps of photography, you would never give up on yourself.
“Passion + Patience + Perseverance = Great Photographs”

They fuel your passion just when you want to give up! That’s the calling…
If you liked my eBook, please do send your value feedback to prathapdk@gmail.
com.
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bird photography – 10 mistakes and solutions

Quit Mistakes Because There Are No Retakes!
About The Author
P rathap is a Passionate Nature Photographer, residing in

Bangalore, India, who specializes in Bird Photography and
Landscape Photography. He is always in pursuit of some of the
unique photographs of nature. He believes strongly in simplici-
ty whether it is about life, photography, or any other thing.
Prathap started his blog www.naturephotographysimplified.
com in December 2013 to follow his philosophy of simplicity
where he simplifies all photography concepts. His blog has
reached over 5000 subscribers 1.5 years.
He firmly believes that photography is a life-long learning as
any other art. He encourages his blog readers as well as his
workshop students to keep learning no matter how experi-
enced they are.
Check out his photography portfolio @
www.prathapphotography.com/
Shoot mail to prathapdk@gmail.com to enquire about the fol-
lowing services:
• Customized one-on-one Photography Workshops
• Photography Tours all over India
• Coffee Table Books for Corporates, Resorts, Tourism Cen-
tric Operations, etc.
• Calendars, Brochures, or Photography Centric Branding
Other eBooks From Author
Bird Photography Simplified
This eBook is coming soon.
Click Here To See Preview
A Step-by-Step Guide to
Post Processing Bird Photographs
Using Lightroom & Photoshop
This eBook is available in pdf format.
Click Here To Learn More About This eBook

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY: 15 INCREDIBLE TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
This eBook is available on Amazon
Click Here To Learn More About This eBook

Upcoming Photography Workshops
Bird Photography Workshop In Bharatpur Bird

Sanctuary
B haratpur bird sanctuary or Keoladeo National Park is one of the

best birding destinations in India. I call it a birder’s paradise as
there are endless opportunities to make some of the most memora-
ble bird photographs.
On a clear winter day, you could see anywhere between 25 to 50

bird species! You would get to photograph some of the most beau-
tiful species like Sarus Cranes, Common Kingfisher, Indian Pea-
fowl and Great White Pelicans up close.
For more details, shoot a mail to prathapdk@gmail.com or sub-

scribe to Nature Photography Simplified blog.
The flora and fauna of the park would captivate you and bring you
closer to the nature. 29 square kilometer park has lot of things to
offer.
Check out my photo story on Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

Thank You!

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“A moment once gone is gone forever!”

I have brought down the exposure by 2 stops

This is a clear example of how a small

But, you won’t have too much time in the

What about the light? It is horrible!

Isn’t it mind-blowing? It is the same scene taken just be-

The light plays a critical role in turning an ordinary scene

“If you want to be a better photographer, pay ut-

Place the bird Bryan Peterson

A proper composition would look like this.

Note: If the bird is looking towards the camera then

By following the rule of thirds and the rule of

The bird is off-centred making this image

Zoom in to the criti- Robert Capa

cal parts of the pho-

When autofocus has a problem locking onto

Keep a check on shutter speed to see if you

If the bird is too fast and the contrast (light

No matter what you do to achieve sharp focus,

Take a look at this image this Hoopoe. Do you

Take a look at the zoomed version. Can you

If you fail to do that and keep on taking

Once you know that the focus is off the

Here is the close-up. It is tack sharp, as

You cannot form any connection with

How about this photograph (below)

It is not a perfect eye-level photograph

Here’s another example of my favorite bird – Green Heron.

A good eye contact Henri Cartier-Bresson

with the bird would

We want people to pay attention to us when we speak because we want to connect

When you look at only this photograph, you

Take a look at this one (below) and now feel

Once you decide Steven Pinker

on the subject, stop

Which one do you like now? Hopefully the second one :)

In all, this photograph has a story to it too.

Take a look at the properly processed image depicting

Now we will go through some of the common mistakes

“Noise resides in the areas of gradual change and shadow regions.”

“Several times it is better to sharpen it a bit less

As a matter of fact, I have written an eBook on post-pro-

This guy allows you to go so close to

In fact, I had to move few steps back to

Consider the photograph of a lone

This is the best photograph that I could

I spent considerable time photograph-

Here are some of my favorite photographs of these colorful birds.

If you didn’t get to photograph some of your favorite spe-

What if you don’t get any other place nearby?

Don’t lose hopes. Check the next chapter to know how I

graphs. What is the reason behind these frustrations?

Believe me…that is way far from the truth.

A bird doesn’t differentiate between one from another.

So, what makes some photographers to consistently produce better photographs?

“It happens only when you know what you want.”

Here is a simple story that I think proves this point.

When I ended up in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, I wanted to make a silhouette of In-

But by the time I adjusted myself, it was gone.

Though I did not get what I wanted, I was

Every day I would go to the same place and