Course Description
David Tipling is widely regarded as one of the best bird photographers in the world. This course will reveal the secrets to capturing that perfect shot as practised by one of the world's leading bird photography experts.
David will give you tips on bird photography, accompanied by advice on the best bird photography lenses and a full length course peppered with examples of some of the best bird photography in the world.
Achieving Your Best Bird Photography
Birds are all around us in our daily lives. Whether it be waders on a windswept estuary or tame ducks in a city park, photographing wild birds is an art that has to be learnt. Good technique is important and will be covered in detail from lighting to creating eye catching compositions. We will explore how different focal length lenses, the best bird photography lenses, your positioning and angle of view all change the feel of a picture. We look at the best ways of supporting a long bird photography lens and how to use a short lens even a compact camera for taking eye catching results. Often the difference between capturing a great shot as opposed to something that is acceptable, but no more, is having the knowledge of how shutter speed and aperture selection can influence the end result. Where in the frame should the bird go, should I shoot in portrait or landscape format? Bird photography however, requires more than just good technique, it needs field-craft.
Bird Photography Tips
You will learn to spot certain signals a bird gives off before take off, how to approach a wary species, positioning of hides, attracting birds to the garden and tips on likely locations that you can try visiting in your neighbourhood for a successful shot. These and many more questions will be answered as we delve down into how to photograph three different groups of birds. We finish with a master-class on capturing birds in flight, and the ability to put some of what you have learnt in the previous lessons to good use.
Learning Outcome
On completion of this 4 week course you will have learnt good basic fieldcraft, along with the ability to consistently capture well exposed and creative images of birds. You will also have the knowledge to successfully shoot birds in flight.
Requirements
This course will involve some travel to different locations, so before you book it, please make sure you have allowed enough time in your diary. Each week you will be asked to submit 3 images of different types of birds. Lesson one is the easiest for most people as it covers garden birds. Lesson 2,3 and 4 will involve travel to various locations to photograph the different bird varieties. For wild fowl and waders, you you will need to find a suitable pond, river, mudflats or estuary to photograph, or alternatively a zoo or farm, where you can photograph captive birds.
Equipment required:
DSLR or Compact Camera with good zoom lens
A Tripod
Course outline
Garden Birds
Wildfowl
Waders
Birds in Flight
Choose how you want to learn
The Expert option
RecommendedDevelop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition from David Tipling
- Start course whenever you like
- 4 weeks tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
- 4 assignments marked by David Tipling
- Certificate of completion from David Tipling
- Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
- 4 lessons with expert videos & notes
- Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
- Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
$299The Peer option
Discover the benefits of group learning in an online interactive classroom of no more than 20 people. Get the most from shared knowledge and community study
- Start course whenever you like
- Practise what you learn with your peers
- Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
- 4 lessons with expert videos & notes
- 4 course assignments
- Group chat & direct message classmates
- Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
$99
Learn better together
Online classroom
Start anytime and join a class of no more than 20 students
Test yourself
Practice what you learn with assignments after each lesson
Personal tuition
Exclusive assignment feedback from Expert Tutors
Share
Share ideas with classmates from around the world
Meet David Tipling
photographers renowned for his artistic images of birds. His many accolades
include a coveted European Nature Photographer of the Year Award (2002)
for work on Emperor Penguins, and in North America, Nature’s Best
Indigenous Peoples Award (2009) for his pictures of Mongolian eagle hunters.
He is the author or commissioned photographer for many books including the
RSPB Guide to Digital Wildlife Photography (Bloomsbury) and Penguins –
Close Encounters (New Holland). In 2013 after 6 years work visiting 39
countries on all seven continents the critically acclaimed Birds & People
(Random House) was published. Recently published books include Seabirds
of the World, A Parliament of Owls and an instant best seller with Princeton
University Press, Britain’s Birds. His latest book A Bird Photographer’s Diary
charts his 30 year career in pictures. David writes regularly for various
magazines including Amateur Photographer.
TV and film work have seen appearances in front of the camera on
Springwatch and The One Show, while David has worked behind the camera
making short films and with author Jonathan Franzen on the documentary
Emptying the Skies.
David’s pictures hang in various collections around the World and have been
exhibited in New York’s Times Square, the Nikon Gallery in Japan and
recently the Mall Galleries in London.