5 PRO Tips To INSTANTLY Take BETTER Photos with ANY Camera!

Take these tips & up your photography game today no matter what camera gear you are using! Make sure to watch till the end for the Bonus Tip that will never let you miss another crucial moment!
___________________________________________
MASTERCLASS - Editing Your Bird Images To Perfection
____________________________________________
Check out our PROSETS here and save up to 30%!
_____________________________________________
MASTERCLASS & PERCHED BUNDLE - 25% off!
_____________________________________________
How to Attract Amazing Birds Ebook & Video Perched
_____________________________________________
R7 RAW File Download & Set Up Guide
_____________________________________________
My Twitter
_____________________________________________
Instagram
_____________________________________________
Bird Photography Helpers:

Flex Shooter Pro Head

This is the Equipment I recommend:

LINKS USED IN THE DESCRIPTION MAY OR MAY NOT BE AFFILIATE LINKS
By using the affiliate links I earn a small commission on your purchase, it does not cost you anything extra to use them. It helps me to create more content for you. Thank you for the support!

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 5 Tips!
0:17 All Important Angles!
1:09 Mix It Up!
3:24 Don't be Lazy!
5:03 Gear Is Everything!
7:04 Light It Up!
9:28 Bonus Tip!

[Noam_Kinrot]

As it pertains to pointing the camera at the subject, I found that using binoculars to find it, usually yields some visual ques in it vicinity, that help fine-tune location, when camera hunting for it. So I hunt with my binoculars, and then raise my camera to my eye, but continuously looking in the direction, in case the subject relocates in between (especially song birds in bushes). As for using the wind direction - that's something I will try to take notice of, but it reverses for shooting mammals, which use smell and hearing to detect danger - so I guess it depends. Thanks for the tips !!

[brucegraner]

A checklist that makes for a great video.

[tonyblake]

😂 Good photos of our much loved bin chickens. Actually head shots are great I think because of the colours and textures in their featherless head. A bit like a portrait photo of a characterful person’s face.

[rogermaioli]

Here's something I used to get better at locating subjects in my viewfinder: the lens hood for the Sony 200-600 has a red mark right on top (think of it as the 12-hour mark on a clock). Before putting my eye to the viewfinder I align that red mark with my target and then tilt the lens up one inch. Most of the time, when I look through the viewfinder, the bird is right there.

[inrain]

That tip with practising how to point the camera at your subject without actually looking through the viewfinder immediately clicked with me. Happens to me far too often that I have to search the bird and when I find the branch where it was sitting then it is gone. Will now start practising that.

[AndrewHardacre]

I think birders who photograph are much better at finding the subject in the viewfinder. We do the same with our bins. We see the bird and bring the bins up to our eyes and over time is becomes second nature. The only lens I really struggled with was my old 800mm f5.6 but that’s been sold. Age and the weight conspired against me.

[SkylarkFields]

I knew some of these but had just not really continued to put them into practice! So much good advice, and I can't wait to try the tips that I didn't know of, as well as refresh on the other ones. Thanks for a great video.

[darkbidding]

Great video, Jan. Thanks! Glad you mentioned Auto ISO. Also that you mentioned heat distortion. I think that one causes a lot of frustration for people if they don’t know about it, thinking that there’s something intermittently wrong with their camera and/or lens.

[diann]

The key to locking on to a bird in the distance, is to use the same technique as people with binoculars. Lock on with your eyes and keep your eyes locked on, then bring your camera and lens up to your eyes pointing your camera at the bird. It does take practice, but this was taught to me by a naturalist, on a bird walk, and doesn't fail.

[GlennBartley]

Great video amigo. Lots of useful tips!

[rickfarber]

Really good video with helpful tips. Some of your ideas about being able to operate your gear without looking, and also connecting your eye's view to that of the viewfinder made me think of driving a car. Look out for the driver who has to look at the gear shifter to find the right gear and try parallel parking without knowing the limits of your vehicle.

[danielbathaver]

Excelente video como siempre. Muchas gracias por compartir tu conocimiento

[jonnnature]

Today I visited an offshore island from my country and the lighting really sucked. The birds were really hard to get in the viewfinder straightaway. Photography really needs practice!!

[daran]

Your overcast vs sun comparison shots seem misleading. The overcast shot is much more heavily processed, the colors further away from the original. So they look to "pop" more. In contrast I find the colors tend to improve significantly with some direct sun. So you often don't need any artificial boost to have bright colors. Of course shooting in the sun has drawbacks, but I find that colors are much better with at least some direct sun on the subject. To me the best compromise seems to be days with lots of "sheep" clouds, where there is sun light hitting directly, but also fill light from the clouds helping with the shadows.

[Chris-Brown-]

About half the time I can do the aiming bonus tip as most of my random bird in flight shots end up being: switch to custom mode2, max zoom, aim and hold the shutter button.

[Chris-Brown-]

I've got a picture of a bin chicken, in flight, while it is taking a dump

[camhitchcock]

Thank you Jan, I most appreciate all your guidance. Excellent tips in this video.

[santoshmahalik]

Great tips as usual... The wind factor is my most important take home message

[festerbestertester]

Once I picked up a camera about 10 years ago, I've met many other photographers along the way, some better than others. I'm surprised at how many people will buy an expensive camera and mount an expensive lens to it but never bother to learn how to use it. They treat it like it's a simple point and shoot and never even check out the various settings that make it a great camera in the first place. Some of these people, if their camera were to ever accidentally get knocked out of fully automatic mode, would probably have to send it in to the shop to have it fixed because they don't have a clue what's wrong with it. Now, my philosophy is, if you're just an amateur and no one is paying you for your pics, if you're having fun, then you're doing it right. But I get annoyed when someone will come up to me and ask me why their pics aren't coming out as good as mine after I've put in years of practise and study while they've put in absolutely no effort whatsoever. I don't mean to brag that my photos are all that great (I throw away lots of them), but it's not like you can just pick up a camera and call yourself a professional photographer. It takes work.

[mixeddrinks]

don't wear bright orange shirt is my first tip, learned that the hard way hahaha old guy in all camo screamed at me first time I was at the local bird shooting place. GET OUT OF HERE WITH YOUR ORANGE SHIRT