Capturing Birds in their Environment - Bird Photography Tips & Tricks

[@johnjackson9601]

Very good tips thanks!

[@EspenHelland]

Thanks John!

[@quiquealfaro5476]

In fact the goldcrest is the smallest bird in Europe, nice videos. The photo of the goldcrest is great, a really nice bird.

[@EspenHelland]

👌🏻 Thank you Quique!

[@TheWildlifeHomestead]

Very great tips! My favorite pic was the blue tit. Lovely colors mixed with the green of the environment.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Stefano! Always good when the bird's colours work with the environment 😃

[@YabannPenceresi]

Great video. A really nice shot. I enjoyed watching. Thanks for sharing.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much! Really appreciate it 🙂

[@dbasser1]

Nice to see a video of the island where I live. You have inspired me to go out and gets some bird photography done. Will have to make do with my garden for now due to the corona virus.

[@EspenHelland]

Great place for wildlife :)

[@jowb575]

Great shots ,love the catkins too. Thanks for the perspectives, very helpful.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Jo 🙂

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Nice video, You have a good voice for doing the voice-overs/talking to the cameras. Great job!

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you! Much appreciated 🙂

[@markharris5771]

An absolutely brilliant video. I’m slowly growing to hate those images that are just a bird with everything else blurred into beige. I want to know where a bird lives, what sort habitat. I love goldcrests and yes along with the rarer firecrest it’s UK's smallest bird. Good to see someone else using the 7DII, a camera along with my 5DIII I still love and use. Although we only live about 45minutes away Walney is unfortunately out of reach for my wife and myself as we both have disabilities. But there’s lots of amazing places all along Morecambe Bay. A definite subscribe.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Mark! It's definitely much more difficult to capture good images of birds in their environment, but yes I think it's worth striving for :) Walney didn't seem very friendly to get around with a disability, but I agree there seem to be lots of nice places in the area. Hoping I get to explore more of it :)

[@tomdullage1531]

Good advice and some lovely pictures, thanks Espen.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Tom!

[@RadioShackSeven]

Lovely captures of the Goldcrests. It looks like a great reserve. Nice work Espen :-)

[@EspenHelland]

Thanks Dan! Yes a really nice reserve, probably even better for wetland birds, but didn't have enough time on this occasion.

[@RadioShackSeven]

@@EspenHelland I know that feeling :-)

[@CNylundPhotography]

Espen you made some really good pointers in this video. even as a relatively experienced photographer i sometimes struggle not to just get carried away an try to capture everything when visiting new locations. Last but not least, keep up The good work.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Conny! I often have to remind myself slow down as well :)

[@markattardo]

Good tips.

[@EspenHelland]

Cheers Mark!

[@I_snap_wild]

Bro you just keep pumpin the videos out, I can not keep up, Another great job man.

[@EspenHelland]

Cheers Mikey! I'm on a good run just now 🙂

[@VideoNatur]

Interesting video, thanks for given the info!!!

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much :)

[@DaniTurPhoto]

Totally agree with your idea man 😉👍

[@EspenHelland]

Thanks Dani! 🙂

[@JohnFormstone]

Another great video Espen! Its so tempting to just run and gun, especially when your visiting a reserve for just one day, but as you have shown patience is a virtue that usually pays dividends. 👍

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you John! Patience seems to always pay off, but it still difficult ;)

[@knutfugl]

Lovely shots! 👍Thanks for sharing. Best regards, Knut.

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Knut!

[@CJamesPhoto]

Great video man! some really well spoken info there, will certainly help me to take a little more time thinking of compositions with birds 😃

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much James!

[@dust1415]

Really useful tips will try out this weekend

[@EspenHelland]

Cheers! Best of luck 🙂

[@dust1415]

@@EspenHelland Yes works but need lot patience just sit wait will try again will light weight chair and tripod

[@williamcinco2489]

Nice video espen

[@EspenHelland]

Thanks William!

[@touchedbynature5445]

Beautiful photographs. Also very informative and inspiring, as a beginner I am enjoying your videos very much. Thank You.

[@EspenHelland]

Really appreciate that Paul! Thanks :)

[@paulmartin8633]

Hey, at 6:15 in the video, you are in the process of taking photo's of birds in the trees by the water. Birds are really sensitive to movement and when I watch the video you are a silhouette to the sky behind you. When I'm out, I like to take a 6x10 ft (1.8x3.0m) camo netting with me, in a spot like that would use some poles (from nearby trees ) to raise it up so that my backdrop isn't a complete silhouette to the sky. It's a great spot, you mentioned the birds were on the other side of the tree by the water, maybe by changing your silhouette and blending in and then waiting for them to calm down to the disturbance it would have been even a better spot. Either way, we love your videos, thanks for posting.

[@EspenHelland]

P&K Rustics Thank you and great point! When I started out I had quite soft and nice light, but yeah I suppose my silhouette would have been pretty obvious in the end. Do you use the camo netting behind you just to block the silhouette or do you put it up in front of you to also hide better?

[@paulmartin8633]

@@EspenHelland Depends on the circumstances, I have a small dog house blind that I sometimes use, a bird hide I built from wood in my back woodlot, a ghillie suit which is handy, and netting for when I don't have my doghouse with me. Usually, if I'm using the netting, I have either my ghillie or camo sweater on, lean up against a tree and cover my lower body with the netting. If I use netting with poles then I have a piece across the front as well.

[@EspenHelland]

P&K Rustics nice setup 👌🏻

[@markattardo]

Great info!!

[@LeoDaly1]

Just found your channel here, and I’m glad I did. Loved this video. Useful info and tips and presented nicely 👍 Subscribed and looking forward to the next video, although I still have your back catalogue to keep me busy for a while 😀. Keep up the good work!

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Leo! Aiming for one weekly so it's quickly adding on. Glad you liked it 🙂

[@PamelaRuddyUKart]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Really useful tips for beginners like me. I'm looking forward to the next video :)

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you very much Pamela! Glad you found something useful from it 🙂

[@stevencharter1803]

Nice video thanks...Some great shots at the end...made it worth it...)

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you Steven! Would have liked some soft light, but kind of worked 🙂

[@briantooze3415]

Thanks for the video. I have just started bird photography and as you mentioned, I am that photographer trying to shoot every bird I see. Please can you do more videos on small song birds (my birds of choice) especially on how to fill the frame. In all my shots the birds are too far away and small. Regards, Brian

[@RadioShackSeven]

It will come in time Brian, it's all fieldcraft, sit still quietly and patiently and you will be quite surprised. Make sure that you wear gloves and as much as your face is covered as possible as they don't like the flash of skin when you move.

[@EspenHelland]

It's definitely a conscious effort to not shoot everything in sight, I still have to remind myself :) Thank you very much for the video tip Brian, I will see if I can't do a video on the that in the near future. Btw, what reach does your lens have?

[@briantooze3415]

@@RadioShackSeven Thank you Dan. I just found a link to your channel and have subscribed. Looking forward to watching your content. Regards, Brian

[@briantooze3415]

@@EspenHelland Thank you for taking time to respond. Much appreciated. I am shooting a Lumix G80 m4/3 with a 100-300 lens (200-600 equivalent). Regards, Brian

[@RadioShackSeven]

Cheers @@briantooze3415, much appreciated ;-)

[@fje042]

Inspiring stuff as always:) Whats the best material to fill your bean bags with? Im worried dried peas will swell when wet?

[@EspenHelland]

Thank you Fred! Good question, not sure what's the best material, but I use rice and that works really well.

[@RadioShackSeven]

I use rice placed into freezer bags and then placed inside the beanbag cover...

[@samueljackwilliams4647]

Love the song you use in this video, what is it?

[@EspenHelland]

Thanks Samuel! It's called Cornelius, it's on Episemicsound can't remember the artist just now.

[@touchedbynature5445]

Hi From Norfolk, Espen have you ever photographed birds in North Norfolk. Enjoying your videos very much I'm learning a great deal from your videos thank you.

[@EspenHelland]

Yes, well more birding actually I didn't take many photos on the trip. Remember going to Blakeney and Cromer for a short visit. Really nice place!

[@bbsphotography2187]

Last week I photographed Meadow Pipit in Yarmouth and caught a lovely situation with Turnstones with seals as a backdrop when photographing seals at Horsey during a family holiday. Lovely area (Norfolk), we all want to visit again!