outdoor photography

White Ibis One of the biggest challenges to bird photography is that you can never seem to be close enough to the birds to suit your lens.  I use a 400mm lens, but even if I owned an 800mm lens, I would frequently wish I could make the bird larger in the frame.  While cropping is almost always needed, you don't have to crop as much if you include more of the bird's environment.  If you can ever shoot birds with their reflection included, though, you can have your cake and eat it too.  You don't have to crop as much, and in most situations, your composition will likely be improved by including the bird's reflection.  Whether the reflection is a crystal clear and perfectly formed or wavy and deformed, they add a sense of tranquility and beauty that I think benefits most images. White Ibis (pristine reflection.  This is the same bird in the same position as in the first photo, but I moved closer and changed the angle of view to exclude the mangrove ...

Hooded Merganser, Viera Wetlands Perhaps I'm over-generalizing here, but I think including reflections will help most any photo.  I can't tell you how many times I've photographed birds, come home and seen that I've cut off the bird's reflection in the water with my composition.  I usually think the photograph would be improved if I included it.  So I've trained myself to look for reflections whenever shooting with water in m compositions. Tricolored Heron, Mead Gardens When shooting photographs with reflections, it is extremely tempting to center the composition.  The temptation can be almost irresistible.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with doing this, but look for ways to take non-centered compositions as well.  The rule of thirds can be helpful here.  Also remember that the reflection will always be somewhat darker than the subject.  You may need to use a little exposure compensation and raise the exposure a little to let you r...