National Geographic Photographing Birds [Paperback]

Rulon Simmons (Author), Bates Littlehales (Author)

Book Description

Series: National Geographic | Publication Date: March 21, 2006

There are an estimated 85 million American birders, and just about every one carries a camera. But there's an art to capturing birds on film—and who better to reveal the tricks of the trade than two of National Geographic's foremost birders/photographers?


This appealing and informative guide is packed with practical know-how, presenting a wealth of techniques, tips, and hard-won wisdom about everything from the best equipment to use to how to lure or stalk birds until you have the perfect shot. You'll learn how to get close—but not too close—to a nest, how to frame a bird in full flight, how to cope with challenging weather or difficult lighting, and much more. Interspersed throughout the book, wonderful visual essays offer vivid examples of birding photography at its dramatic best, along with commentary on how the shot was taken and how its elements combine to create an effective, arresting composition.


And, unique among books in its field, this one covers not just traditional film but also the latest developments in cutting-edge digital equipment and its particular strengths and weaknesses, complete with expert advice on editing and printing with a computer.


Based on many years of research, experiment, and practical experience, this handy guide will get novices off the ground with ease, and even the most advanced bird photographers will find their work soaring to new heights.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rulon Simmons has won numerous awards for his photography, which has appeared in many publications including Birds and Blooms and National Geographic Bird Watcher.


Bates Littlehales, a lifelong birder, has contributed photographs to more than 60 National Geographic publications over the course of his twenty-five year association with the Society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792254848
• ISBN-13: 978-0792254843
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pass on This, March 23, 2006

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: National Geographic Photographing Birds (Paperback)

"Photographing Birds" is a pocket-sized book aimed at covering the full gamut of bird photography from equipment to a short list of places to take photographs of birds. In between, chapters include luring and stalking birds, photographing nesting and flight and special challenges like night photography and winter photography.

This book is apparently an update of a previous National Geographic book entitled "National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Birds". While I did not read that prior volume, this book has the feel of a job of cutting and pasting. For example, in the Getting Started chapter, there is an extensive discussion of film in the main text and then some sections that feel like they had just been appended on digital photography. The same section contains a discussion of catadioptric (mirror) lenses. No bird photographer I know would consider using such a lens today.

Two of the basic problems that any bird photographer will face are exposure and focus. There is no discussion in this book of how one might compensate for different lighting conditions and bird tonalities. There is a reference to the histogram, one of the most useful devices that digital SLR cameras offer for the control of exposure, but no explanation of this function. With regard to focus most modern cameras offer a choice between single focus and continuous focus and the selection of one or the other can greatly affect the images taken, but there is virtually no mention in this book.

The basic shortcoming is that while the book recognizes the problems of bird photography, there is very little practical advice. Even such a basic subject as depth-of-field is not included in the book.

For several years the gold standard for bird photography has been "The Art of Bird Photography" by Arthur Morris. It doesn't cover digital photography but it's still a lot more useful than this book. Morris has an e-book on digital bird photography which is available from his web site, but which he is not yet offering in a printed version.

The bottom line is that I cannot recommend this book for any photographer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Many details not relevant for DSLR cameras, January 14, 2011

By 

Joan L. Ferguson "JoAn" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: National Geographic Photographing Birds (Paperback)

As the previous reviewer mentioned, there are several references to film cameras as well as digital cameras. The recommended settings don't seem consistent with others I've read. He suggests using a "fast" shutter speed of 1/150 - other sources typically recommend 1/1000. I wonder if some of these recommendations are more oriented to film.

I also don't like some of the ways that he suggests setting up a shot, such as taking an off focus picture of flowers, printing it in a large format, and propping it up to create a background for his "natural" hummingbird shots. What's up with that???

I have a lot to learn about photographing birds, and I'm sure that much of the guidance is sound. But I can't recommend this book.


JoAn