HIDING OUT

As I mentioned earlier, I used to sit on my deck when I first started photographing birds. My presence didn’t seem to bother the small house finches, but the bigger birds were leery. That’s why I moved into my shed and now use it as my primary hiding place. Now I’m not saying go out and buy a shed just for bird photography, but you’ll have to come up with a way to stay hidden.

I know a lot of people that shoot from inside their houses, through the windows. I tried that but it seemed to me I was losing a bit of sharpness in my images. But hey, if it works for you then by all means do it!

I also bought this pop up blind below which I use for photographing Hummingbirds in my garden. It will blow over pretty easily but it comes with hold down spikes. I had to watch a YouTube video to learn how to fold it back up and place it back in the bag, you know, kind of like a big circular reflector that you can never get back in its zipper case.

I’ve had excellent results photographing hummingbirds up close using this pop-up blind, and an extension tube.

The majority of the time I use a tripod with a gimbal head. If I’m using a small 400 5.6 lens, I will hand hold on occasions because it gives me the flexibility to swing the camera/lens around pretty quick.

The issue with hand holding is, you have to hold it the entire time. It’s up to you how you want to approach this. Just make sure you have everything you need before getting in the hide. I can’t tell you how many times I forgot something, left the blind only to come back and see some beautiful Goldfinch flying around the feeder or a Hummingbird lit from the Sun and fly away as I re-enter the hide.

Also, invest in a nice comfortable chair because you may be in there for hours!!