{"id":1428,"date":"2016-06-28T22:57:30","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T22:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/?p=1428"},"modified":"2016-12-06T17:12:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:12:42","slug":"florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Birds: Photography Tips & Photo Gear"},"content":{"rendered":"

The abundance of \u00a0Florida birds<\/strong>\u00a0in the sunshine state, actually tells you that there are more probably species in this state than anywhere else and many are quite comfortable with people approaching them. \u00a0Without question, Florida birds photography is simply the best in the United States.<\/p>\n

You will do well without a blind, camouflage, or any sort of difficult camera equipment. Simply get out of your car, go observe all of those birds and have a great time photographing.<\/p>\n

\"Florida
Great Blue Heron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Best times to visit: Florida is traditionally a tourist destination, but early to mid-November and during most of January it\u2019s pretty quiet.<\/p>\n

The hotels have open rooms available and the traffic is light. And, you\u2019ll have the opportunity to see additional species that have migrated south for the winter months.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
White Snowy Egret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Close-up
Flamingo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where to Find Florida Birds<\/h2>\n

To get you started, here are some of the best locations I\u2019ve found.\u00a0There are many areas to photograph birds throughout Florida, so check out these and others by doing a Google Search.\u00a0You could also contact various bird watching groups in the state.\u00a0They will be able to tell you when and where to find a wide range of bird species.<\/p>\n

East Central Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rockledge, FL
\nViera Wetlands, Brevard County Waste Water Treatment Facility
\nN. Wickham Rd.
\nVariety of birds and eagles and, oh yes, alligators.<\/p>\n

Central Florida – Inland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kenansville, FL \u2013 near Lake Kissimmee
\n900 Joe Overstreet Rd.-\u00a0driving along the road, there is a pond on left and a marsh on right at end of road.
\nLarge numbers of birds, eagles, owls and cranes.<\/p>\n

St. Cloud, FL
\n1200 Lakeshore Blvd. \u2013 along the East Lake Tohopekaliga
\nTake the trails from the boat ramp.
\nSpoon Bill Cranes and chicks<\/p>\n

Kissimmee, FL
\n601 Lakeshore Blvd.
\nMany wading birds.<\/p>\n

Southeast Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n

Delray Beach, FL
\nWakodahatchee Wetlands Wastewater Treatment Facility
\n13042 Jog Rd.
\nVariety of birds and alligators<\/p>\n

West Central \u2013 near Tampa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dunedin, FL<\/p>\n

Honeymoon Island State Park
\n1 Causeway Blvd.
\nOspreys and possibly owls.<\/p>\n

Nokomis, FL \u2013 between Tampa and Ft. Myers<\/p>\n

Knights Trail Rd. \u2013 Laurel Road Dump (sign in at the office)
\nEagles, hawks, and alligators<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cape Coral, FL \u2013 near Ft. Myers<\/p>\n

922 SW 39th Terrace \u2013 near library
\nBurrowing Owls<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Bald Eagles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Be sure to head further south and visit Everglades National Park. You can spend an entire day in just one small section of the park and come away with some incredible images.<\/p>\n

Practice, Practice, Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bird photography is tricky. You can spend years working on just this subject, so practice, practice, and more practice will be the key to creating great photos. With large numbers of birds in singular locations, it\u2019s the perfect opportunity to try a number of techniques.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re just starting out, work on getting closer to them and making portraits and then move towards more difficult techniques.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up
Little Blue Heron is looking for food in the marsh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Birds in flight<\/a> are one of the biggest challenges faced by most, so be patient. Pick an area and just sit and watch for awhile.<\/p>\n

Get a feeling for how they move or fly about. Pay attention to their habits \u2013 maybe what they do just prior to taking flight or landing. Then start practicing. As with any moving object, the more you work at it, the better you will become and the easier it will get.<\/p>\n

The thrill will come when you create great images of those herons, ducks, cranes, eagles, hawks, and owls doing what they do best.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Osprey Landing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also, try to blur the background as much as possible. Keep your aperture around 2.8 or 4.0 so you can use a high shutter speed. Don\u2019t be afraid to use a higher ISO if necessary. A picture with some noise is better than no picture at all.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

Burrowing Owl<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Photo
Great White Egret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camera Equipment<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt here – bigger and better equipment is going to make a difference in the quality of the images, especially when you need to get close.<\/p>\n

Hands down, a 600mm F4 is going to do things that are impossible to do with a 70-300mm with a teleconverter. Now, I understand that most people are on a budget and not everyone can buy the \u201cbig glass\u201d, but don\u2019t get discouraged. Try to think of different ways to make that photo if you are limited to smaller lenses.<\/p>\n

You just might have to get your feet wet walking in the water or you might have to use a bit of stealth and sneak in to get in closer range.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Sandhill Crane and Colt<\/strong><\/p>\n

600mm or 300-800mm lenses will be your very best choices for the big lenses used on a tripod for distant shots and a 70-200mm lens should be carried on your body at all times in order to make those spur of the<\/p>\n

moment photos. Think of it this way – you are driving along, or walking on a trail and suddenly 10 feet ahead you see your subject. Having easy access to your camera and making the image fast before the bird flies away will be important.<\/p>\n

Teleconverters are also very important, especially if you have smaller lenses. Even huge lenses don\u2019t always get you close enough. I\u2019ve seen photographers with a 600mm lens and 2 teleconverters stacked behind it.<\/p>\n

The problem with using all those converters is you lose light and autofocus speed, and sometimes you won\u2019t be able to use autofocus at all. It differs depending on what body and lens you are using at the time. And you\u2019ll want quality teleconverters here, or your sharpness and contrast will be less than optimal.<\/p>\n

\"Reflection
Great White Egret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No matter which setup you choose, stability is a key factor in making sharp images. A tripod is your friend. It is just as important as that expensive lens.<\/p>\n

Be sure it can handle the weight of the camera and heaviest lens, or it could all come crashing down. The typical ball head does not work well for birds in flight, so you\u2019ll want to consider a Wimberly style head.<\/p>\n

It allows you to pan and follow the bird and has no trouble supporting 15 lbs. of equipment.<\/p>\n

Live view is also a huge help. It\u2019s essentially a mirror lockup that still allows you to watch your subject.<\/p>\n

A remote shutter release, either infrared, radio or cable, is important too. If you are set up watching a nest with two teleconverters, the slightest touch will result in camera shake and a blurred image.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

Glossy Ibis<\/strong><\/p>\n

If it sounds like bird photography is an expensive venture, well, it certainly can be if it\u2019s your photographic subject of choice, and if you want the rewards of creating those stunning images. But don\u2019t get discouraged. There are exceptions to every rule.<\/p>\n

Even if you can\u2019t afford all the expensive equipment, you can still get out in nature, have fun with Florida birds photography and truly make some wonderful images.<\/p>\n

by Michael Leggero<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The abundance of \u00a0Florida birds\u00a0in the sunshine state, actually tells you that there are more probably species in this state than anywhere else and many are quite comfortable with people [read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[350],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Birds: Photography Tips & Photo Gear - Apogee Photo Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Birds: Photography Tips & Photo Gear - Apogee Photo Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The abundance of \u00a0Florida birds\u00a0in the sunshine state, actually tells you that there are more probably species in this state than anywhere else and many are quite comfortable with people [read more]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Apogee Photo Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ApogeePhotoMagazine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-28T22:57:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-06T17:12:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Great-blue-heron.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"604\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ApogeePhoto\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Apogee_Photo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Apogee_Photo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ApogeePhoto\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ApogeePhoto\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3b189d8a8e52a5c4267a41c54efd6ef1\"},\"headline\":\"Florida Birds: Photography Tips & Photo Gear\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-28T22:57:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-06T17:12:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\"},\"wordCount\":1225,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"florida birds\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nature And Wildlife\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/florida-birds-photography-tips-photo-gear\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Birds: Photography Tips & Photo Gear - 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