I usually concentrate on photographing large birds just because I don’t see them every day and they fascinate me. But a lot can be said about photographing the little songbirds. In a lot of ways, they are easier to photograph. That is, as long as you are patient, use some good small bird techniques, and have a little knowledge of your subject.

Below are just a few techniques and camera settings I used to make these two photos. By the way, both of these birds were photographed at Nygren Wetland Preserve in Rockton, Illinois.

How did I make these photos:

• Picked a nice sunshiny day when the skies were clear.
• Went out late in the day to get some side-lighting and a little more warmth in the colors.
• Positioned myself in the back of a forest preserve far away from the general public.
• Selected a spot near several small trees. These trees were actually growing on a hill side, so my camera lens was level when focused halfway up the tree.
• Had my camera mounted on a tripod.
• Had my lens prefocused in an area of the tree where I thought the birds might land.
• Stood close against my tripod where I could get to my camera controls and viewfinder with minimal movement.
• Stood very still and remained silent.
• Waited for the birds to come to me. Most of my time was spent watching the birds move through the trees and listening to their songs. Not a bad way to spend an hour or two even if you don’t get any good photos.

My camera settings:

• Auto White Balance. Due to the occasional passing cloud, the color temperature was shifting. I almost always shoot in RAW, so I can fine tune the white balance during post production if needed.
• Aperture priority mode at f/5.6. I want very shallow depth of field to isolate the bird from the background.
• ISO 100. I did have Auto ISO engaged with the minimum shutter speed set to 1/250th of a second. There were some passing clouds, and I didn’t want to risk my shutter speed dropping too low.
• Continuous Release Mode-Low, which I have programmed for three frames per second. Could have went up to six frames, but I typically only fire in bursts of two or three frames anyway.
• Autofocus turned on. I do manual fine focusing for each bird to get the eyes tack sharp.

If you want to read more about shooting small perched birds, Steve Berardi over at Photo Naturalist has a great article titled “9 Tips For Photographing Perched Birds.” Steve’s website always has a wealth of information on all things related to nature and wildlife photography.

These photos were made using the Nikon D7000 with Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, tripod mounted.

If you have any small bird tips or techniques that you would like to share, please post a comment below.