Trogon Photo Tours

December 2022 - This month's photography article is about taking effective bird photos when there is a fair bit of habitat showing.  On a Kenya safari there will generally be very little setup bird photography, you photograph the birds where you find them.  With species like Rollers, Starlings, Raptors it is often possible to get them perched up with a clean background.  This is part of the reason you see so many Lilac-breasted Roller and Superb Starling shots from African safaris.  But with many other species such as Sunbirds, Mousebirds, Waxbills and others it's often difficult to get them out in the open with a clean background.  

Our lodge in the Masai Mara had superb bird photography.  On one of the lawns, Waxbills, Violet-backed Starlings and other birds would feed in the grass.  For this shot of a Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu (a type of waxbill) I got down on my stomach to get an intimate view of the bird and to try and make the background less distracting.  Although the bird is partially covered by grass, I think the image works well as the light is hitting its face.  If I had shot this standing up the background would have been quite distracting.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11 lens, 1/1600 F11, iso 3200, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0, handheld lying on the ground. 

Black-bellied Bustards are very common in the Masai Mara, we photographed quite a few.  In this case the Bustard was very close to our safari vehicle but buried in grass.  So, I thought the best way to get a good image was to take a head shot, by taking quite a few images as he moved through the grass I was able to get one where his head was mostly clear of the vegetation.  I was using my zoom so I zoomed in as much as I could. This is one way to deal with a distracting environment, use as much lens as you can and go for a portrait.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 100-400mm lens with adaptor at 400mm, 1/4000 at F7.1, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0. 

Here's another example of a portrait habitat shot.  We photographed some birds from the balconies of our lodge rooms at Samburu National Park, this was a good way to get eye level with some beautiful species.  This is a full frame shot of a White-bellied Go Away Bird (a member of the Turaco family).  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11 lens, 1/800 at F11, iso 3200, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0, handheld. Of course, if I had been photographing with a 500 or 600mmF4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter the branches would have been blurred out quite a bit more.  But I didn't bring my 500F4 as I don't like to bring it on long trips unless I am doing mostly blind photography.  I do like how the branch in the upper right frames the bird's head. 

Here's a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike belting out a song at Samburu National Park.  If a bird is engaging in some interesting behavior such as singing, it's much easier to overlook some vegetation covering part of the bird.  November is the start of the nesting season for birds in Kenya, which makes them more active and generally easier to photograph.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11, 1/800 at F11, iso 2000, Av mode, evaluative metering +0.7, handheld from safari vehicle.  I added some light to compensate for the bright background. 

I find Sunbirds are often in busy settings, but they are such beautiful birds it doesn't really matter to show them in some habitat, their iridescent colors still jump off the screen.  Here is an Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird photographed from our safari vehicle in Samburu National Park.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11 lens, 1/500 at F11, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0, handheld from safari vehicle. 

We found this Sunbird while we were out on a safari drive in Samburu National Park.  At first, we thought it was the more common Scarlet-chested Sunbird but after having photographed it Guilherme pointed out that it was the uncommon arid country specialist, the Hunter's Sunbird.  We worked this bird for quite a while until he popped up and showed off all his glorious colors at the same time.  Again, despite the busy background this bird just pops off the screen.  Since he was small in the frame to begin with, I opted to crop and put him in the upper right using the rule of thirds. 

Here's another shot where the foliage is covering quite a bit of the birds.  These are Common Fiscals (the most common shrike in most of Africa).  I think this one works pretty well largely because there are two birds with different poses and the dark background sets them off well.  If there had been just one with either of these poses, I doubt I would have taken the time to process it.  This was taken at the Aberdare Country Club.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11 lens, 1/1250 at F11, iso 2000, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.7, handheld.  With the dark background I needed to dial in negative exposure compensation to hold the details in the whites. 

Here's a Long-tailed Fiscal photographed in Nairobi National Park.  While I'm not thrilled about the thorns running through the bird's chest or the busy background, I think the pose with the tail up in the air and the prey in the beak more than make up for it. Nairobi National Park is kind of amazing as it's just outside of town and was only about a ten minute ride from our hotel.  We photographed a nice Black Rhino there, all five of the big five are possible there.  The techs for this shot were Canon R5, 800RF11 lens, 1/800 at F11, iso 2000, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0.

To conclude some tips for taking effective bird photos when there is a lot of foliage showing are if the bird is on the ground, get down its level if possible to minimize background distractions, if you are close zoom in for a portrait, focus on beautifully plumaged birds, pairs of birds and/or birds doing something interesting like singing or feeding.