Wild Bird Photography: National Audubon Society Guide [Paperback]

Tim Fitzharris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

Wild Bird Photography shows you how to photograph unobstrusively in intimate contact with your subjects whether they are in the backyard, in the woods, on the water or at the end of the street.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA. A top-notch guide for photographing birds in any environment. The four-part text addresses choosing camera equipment, using natural light, perfecting picture design in the field and in the digital studio, and using close-up techniques such as blinds and calls. Several breathtaking matte-finished photographs appear per double-page spread; abundant examples are provided to illustrate photo techniques, film types, and shutter speed and aperture settings. An appendix includes suppliers of specialized products, identification guides, and bird photography and behavior references. This book provides readers with a photography course that is usually attained over years in the field with a professional mentor.?Bobbi Thomas Skaggs, Robinson Secondary, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

One of [Tim's] strongest assets is his use of excellent visual design, a topic that he covers in this book. (Garry Black GarryBlack.com )

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552090183
• ISBN-13: 978-1552090183
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,436,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay for beginners, but better books are available, December 2, 2006

By 

Raymond Parsons (Issaquah, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Bird Photography: National Audubon Society Guide (Paperback)

In general, I think you'll find other books on bird photography that are better, although beginners may find this book somewhat useful and may enjoy some of the photographs.

My biggest problem with this book is its layout. Specifically, the amount of text relative to the number of pictures is just too small, meaning it's missing a lot of real "meat". Traditional wildlife photography books vary the amount of text on each page, with more when adjacent to smaller photographs and less for larger photographs. If you've read John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide, you know exactly what I'm talking about and probably have become used to this style. Unfortunately, in this book, the text is always in a single vertical column down the page and placed next to one or more photographs. This really limits the amount of text on each page and in the book overall. The total page count is 109.

When I purchased this book, I purchased Arthur Morris' The Art of Bird Photography as well, and would recommend it over Wild Bird Photography. It has at least 3 to 5 times as much material as the book from Tim Fitzharris with a page count of 156.

As far as the content of the book itself, you're going to get a cursory commentary on how to select the right camera and lens, as well as other equipment and accessories. Subsequent chapters will cover light, composition, and blinds and bird behavior. There is no discussion of exposure theory, although maybe the author assumes you already have this knowledge. There is a very small amount of coverage on the digital darkroom, but given the books publishing in 1996, it's a bit outdated.

(Note: The author does briefly mention exposure, although he states that bracketing should be used to ensure properly exposed images. While bracketing is useful, especially with digital photography, this is contradictory to other author's opinions as it's important to be ready when the right moment presents itself. This reinforces my comments above about this book being aimed more at beginners.)

My suggestion is to consider buying John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide and Arthur Morris' The Art of Bird Photography together. These two books combined will cover the nature photography spectrum, with emphasis on bird photography coming from Arthur, and should provide you with the proper balance of knowledge and skills.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tim Fitzharris does it again!!, December 9, 2009

By 

Kent Baker "Photoguy" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Bird Photography: National Audubon Society Guide (Paperback)

OK, I am an avid Tim Fitzharris fan. I find his photography to be exquisite, and his writing style equally as good! He is a master at explaing his techniques of photography, and most of them deal with both film and digital (a little more on film, but then he has been involved in photography a long time - like me!) Like his other books, I wish I had made every photograph in it! I always take my Tim Fitzharris books to the Photography classes I teach. They are superlative examples of great photography as well as great learning aides. My students buy many of his books as a result. They almost always hang around after class to look through them, and then go online to Amazon to buy them. I cannot recommend This book highly enough. He has excellent techniques for getting great photographs of wild birds, and you will find this book extremely valuable in those efforts. I know I have. I don't have all of Tim Fitzharris's books yet, but I'm working on it!!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gift, March 2, 2009

By 

John A. White (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Bird Photography: National Audubon Society Guide (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my daughter as a gift. She said it was very good.