The best bird photographers are the ones that spend more time watching birds than photographing them.

I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do both as staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society and its five wildlife parks in New York, including the Bronx Zoo.

Zoos are the ideal place to practice birding AND take pictures of them. WCS’s zoos and aquarium are home to winged wonders from around the world. In a kaleidoscope of colors only found in nature—flamingos, penguins, pheasants, and many birds of prey are just part of the menagerie at the Bronx Zoo, where habitats are designed with wildlife natural environments in mind.

Birds of prey, or raptors, are among my favorite photographic subjects. Their immense wingspans and tendency to stay perched for long periods of time allows for various photo angles and compositions. Bald eagles, condors, vultures, and snowy owls are on exhibit during all seasons at the Bronx Zoo.

The raptors’ unique adaptations for weather and their lifestyle are my focus, literally. These features include sharp, hook-shaped beaks for tearing open prey meals; large feet, called talons, that are equally as sharp as their beaks AND equally effective as tearing tools; and feathers that extend from head to toe on golden eagles and owls.

Bird eyes that glow like a full moon are the focal point of many of my photos, too. Birds of prey often have brilliantly colored eyes with vision that is many times better than humans’ and key to seeing at a distance for hunting.

A recent assignment for a special raptor event held weekends this September at the Bronx Zoo called “Nature’s Air Show” gave me a stunning array of subjects as they soared through the sky or met me eye-to-eye—spectacled and barn owls, Harris’ and ferruginous hawks, and an auger buzzard to name a few. A turkey vulture appropriately called Barf (due to his natural defense mechanism – projectile vomiting) has stolen the show with his graceful landing after a flight across Astor Court.

These birds are members of a sanctuary and educational group called Hawk Creek, home to wildlife that cannot be released back to the wild. Their careful rehabilitation and training allows visitors to be informed and educated about the birds’ natural history and conservation status. In addition, photo opportunities are spectacular.

Bird photography requires taking many photos to get “the perfect shot.” I vary shutter speeds, depending on whether the bird is in flight or perched, using faster ones for flight, like1000, and a higher ISO. Increasing the ISO (400 or above) setting will help capture motion, freeze action, and help when the light is low. A large aperture (f/2.8-f/5.6) has a shallow depth of field isolating and focusing on the bird and blurring out unwanted background like fences. A small aperture (f/16-f/32) captures less light and increases depth of field to photo both bird and habitat. I shoot with a Nikon D3, and move the Dynamic AF area from 51 points to 9 points for the auto focus to track quickly with the flying birds.

Large CompactFlash cards like Lexar Professional UDMA 300x 16GB (and several of them) are a necessity, so there is no need to hold back on shooting or to miss any shots.

Whether photographing in the zoo or in the wild, I have built a basic kit that I take everywhere:

Basic

• Nikon D3 digital SLR camera
• Nikkor 24-70mm VR for shorter focal length
• Nikkor 70-200mm VR for medium telephoto
• Nikkor 80-400mm VR for longer telephoto
• Lots of Lexar flash cards (good to take many cards and get the shots when frequent downloading is not an option)
  
• Gitzo Carbon Tripod or Monopod

Fun

• 10.5mm fisheye lens (really need to be close though!)
• Compact camera for candid images, areas that don’t allow for big camera set up, or tight squeeze shots

Experts

Nikkor 500mm VR and a 1.4 converter for field and distance work and small birds

Bird photography IS for the birds, and for me, too!

Julie Larsen Maher is staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society where she photographs activities at five New York wildlife parks and at some of the 600 field programs around the world. She is the sixth person (and first female) in the history of the organization to be named to the position since 1895.

www.bronxzoo.com
www.wcs.org
www.hawkcreek.org