CHEROKEE SUN PHOTOGRAPHY: The Importance Of Head Angle In Bird Photography

Birds are skittish by nature and that means that they are often quickly looking around to make sure that they aren't being surprised by some predator. As a result, many bird photographers get tired of waiting for the best head angle shot and they just fire away, thinking that getting the shot of the bird at all is good enough.

But here is a little secret of bird photography - if you want your bird images to look their best, you must pay attention to the head angle of each bird. The best and most pleasing head angles for bird photos are when the bird's head is facing 90 degrees away from you in portrait pose, or when he is looking straight at you, or anywhere in between those two positions.

Photos that have the bird's head facing away from you at any angle is usually not the best, unless it is telling a story and you can see what is getting his attention. This is because there is just something about the eyes that will either make or break a photo. And that is why the bird's eye needs to be the one thing that is in absolutely perfect focus.

Another common problem with many bird images is the butt shot. Because birds are in constant movement they will often be facing away from you. This makes for a completely uninteresting image in most cases. So resist the butt shot unless the head is turned 90 degrees from the camera and the eyes are clearly visible.

Of course, all photography rules will be broken at some point and still produce great images, but in general, these guidelines on how to shoot a bird's head angle will produce the most pleasing and attractive bird images for others to view.