HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH SMALL BIRDS: PHOTOGRAPHY top pro tips (using my Canon R5)

I am not a bird photographer but after watching your videos, I tried to capture a pair of Bluebirds nesting in a birdhouse I installed earlier this year. They are too fast for me to try and track with my 500 mm so I used zone focus, high speed shutter, 1/2000 sec., f/8 and Auto ISO on my EOS R. I shot from a tripod about 70 feet away. Field of view gave me about a two feet space in front of the house opening with a shaded background. The Bluebirds would slow and often flutter just in front of the house. This was my opportunity and I blazed away at 8 frames/second. About 25% of the time, I got useable images and culled these to ones with sharp focus, pleasant wing positions, bright colors or interaction with other birds. I could never have gotten these without the tips and techniques you generously give us. A BIG thank you, sir!  This same technique works on hummingbirds except I'm shooting from about 15 feet away. The detail the 500 captures is very amazing. Depth of field is very shallow so I'm shooting at f/11 or f/16 at 1/800 or 1/1000 second; freezing the wing motion is not important to me so long as I get the body or head in sharp focus. Covering the feeder's holes will direct the bird to the desired hole for focus. They are quick and I sometimes miss the shot when they momentarily hover just in front of the feeder. Photographing these birds has been really fun and a good challenge.

For a recent channel on bird photography, yours has deservedly garnered a large following quite quickly! As the comments amply illustrate, you do a stellar job of explaining things. Also, your photos are beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

Thank You sir, All of your videos are very educsting, and interesting. I am an old guy age 82 with limited mobility, and will never enjoy rambling the woods again. Yet Your Video's are so entertaining just learning about various birds, their habits, Your techinuques to capture them. The seemless unefort ability to use your camera/lens as an artistic tool, while imparting so much information to those of us who love Photography. I use a walker to sit on in High School Gyms & on sidelines attempting to capture action sports. As I enjoy my hobby I shall be trying to use the information you teach in your video's. I appreciate all of your hard work to present these most excellent Professional Video's.

After watching this, I now understand that the exposure compensation dial does work in manual mode if the ISO is set on auto. That's a game-changer for me! Thanks for more great birding photography tips and insights. Love your videos!

Best Bird photography creator out there

As, always, a superb video. Any beginning bird photographer would benefit from visiting your channel first. You demo things clearly and simply in ways other YouTubers tend to gloss over. I think that yours is truly the best bird photography channel out there. Keep it up Simon! Thanks.

You are such a great teacher. Love every video you made. Please keep sharing all the beauty and tips with us. Very much enjoyed and appreciated.

Simon....Very helpful video. Isn't it interesting how one begins birding deriving satisfaction from tack sharp images in classic poses. At some point, a photographer is likely to look at his or her portfolio, and recognize that their photos are worthy of publication, but are otherwise unremarkable. Then the fun begins. "“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso

Thank you for being responsible for peaking my interest in bird photography. In my late 70s, hiking into the wilderness with a backpack is no longer so easy, but my home is in an unofficial "nature park" with a beach in front of me and trees around me, so in the years ahead, I plan to photograph the wild life at my door - how lucky am I?

Thank You, Simon! Your videos are very motivating and inspiring.

Love this 'in the field" format

Simon, I enjoy returning to your channel, and watching videos again. I never find them boring, and always learn something new. Thank You so very much.

Shooting angles and overall composition helped me the most!

Great tips Simon. You are one of the titans of photography instruction. 🏆

Simon...I really appreciated your advice on backgrounds and best angles for bird photography. I went to a bird blind yesterday and didn't think about the fact that the feeders were up high in the air (so I got a lot of shots of belly's), and how the overgrowth of trees and bushes in the background caused my photos to look cluttered until I uploaded them and then watched this video!. I'm looking forward to finding better places to take photos of birds! Thank you so much for this video.

The tip you gave about shutter speed between the different kinds of birds from large slow ones to small fidgety ones is fantastic

I'm always learning something from your videos. Explaining how your eye sees light in the environment is particularly insightful. Thank you for making them!

Good things to think about. Learning more about the birds and their songs and calls is very helpful. I often hear the birds before I see them.

I took 2 photos of a Wren the other day at the reserve I go to.. 1 of it sat on the top of a bare tree. A stick, essentially. I then took one of it sat in the middle of the tree where the reeds were taller and the tree had some growth. It was a completely different photo. This tip is 100% on point for taking better bird photos. It worked for me. I saw the difference between 2 photos and it clicked.

I've followed your work for awhile now and I'm so glad you started doing videos. You're doing a great job with lots of info. Thank you for the work you put into it.