25 Most Beautiful Bird Photography examples and Tips for photographers

5. Shutter speed: Use the semi-auto Tv (Time value – aka Shutter Priority) mode. Set your shutter speed while your camera automatically sets an aperture for a standard exposure. Birds are fast-moving, twitchy creatures. You’ll need to use a fast shutter speed to freeze their movement and obtain sharp shots – too slow and you’ll end up with blurred images. Aim for shutter speeds between 1/500-1/1000 sec. You should also be aware that when shooting in Tv mode, if your shutter speed is slow, your aperture will become narrower. It will increase depth of field and keep more of your backdrops in focus – which means your birds won’t stand out in the scene as well as when using a wider aperture such as f/5.6.