Page 20 - Backyard Bird Photography: How to Attract Birds to Your Home and Create Beautiful Photographs

pressed the shutter on high-speed continuous shooting mode.

Allen’s Hummingbird perched on oriole feeder

Scrub Jay with shadow of bird and peanut
As discussed earlier, when a group of Nanday Parakeets lands on my platform feeder,
this provides an opportunity to photograph a collection of individual birds of the same
species. This also occurs when a flock of Bushtits stops at the birdbath for a communal

drink. In Vermont, groups of American Goldfinches often perch on the Nyjer feeder,
giving me a chance to capture a number of birds in the same shot.

As for using flowers in your garden as backgrounds for your bird photographs, keep in
mind that flowers of different plants bloom at different times of the year and for specific
periods. The yellow flowers of the bush daisy in my Los Angeles garden will bloom at any
time during the year, but there are times when the yellow flowers disappear and the plant
only consists of green leaves. So if I want those yellow flowers in the background of my

photographs, I have to be sure to take those images while the flowers are in bloom.
Similarly, in Vermont the bee balm flowers are at their peak in early July, and by the end of
the month they have gone to seed. Therefore, when you have a flower that makes a good
background, take advantage of it while it’s in bloom.