How to Create the Most Incredible Wildlife Bird Images

I am retired from photographing people. However, I still enjoy a good competition. As a PPA Master and Craftsman photographer, I have attended many photographic educational programs at the state and national level and have taught a few. Through the competitions, I have found my most noticeable growth in the art of photography though.  I have crafted my passion for art and love for landscape and wildlife photography.

In Florida, where I live, there are many species of beautiful birds. photographing birds, particularly Great White Egrets. The image “All A Flutter” was primarily created for competition in 2024. The previous year (2023) I was fortunate enough to have received Imaging Excellence (IE) images which through me three IE images over the required 13 for the PPA Imaging Excellence Medallion.  So, the pressure was off, and I felt freer to step outside my safe space from what I had been submitting for the competition.

My camera(s) of choice for the past five years have been the X series Fujifilm camera line. I currently use the Fujfilm X-T5. Long fast lenses are a must when photographing birds. The lens used for this image was a Fujinon XF 100-400 1:4.5-5.6.

Image sharpness was critical, so I used the maximum aperture for the lighting while trying to minimize noise in the image. This is why it is essential to understand the capabilities of your equipment. With my camera and lens, I was able to capture the image at f14 @ shutter speed of 2000, ISO 1000 at continuous a burst rate.

In post-production, I use Adobe Creative Suite (the most current version by subscription). In Lightroom minor adjustments in highlights and shadows, as well as a little texture. I also, take out any undesired noise in the lightroom. The images are then extracted from the background and individually painted in Photoshop using a wet brush painting technique. I do the same to the original background. Then I put the bird(s) back into the original scene/background. Finally, some cropping and presentation work (mat, stroke, etc.).  

I did enter the image with a few other images in the annual PPA competition in hopes of maybe winning a few dollars. “All A Flutter”  made it up to the cut for 32. The other two images went further in the competition. The image “Softly Strolling” earned a bronze medal and “Building a Nest” earned Gold.

Here’s my best tip on doing this sort of photography – be very familiar with your tools (camera, lenses, postproduction, etc.). Avoid photographing in mid-day, use the available light similar to how you would in the studio.