Description
Price: $49.95 - $29.77
(as of Jun 05, 2025 19:44:16 UTC – Details)
In Mastering Bird Photography: The Art, Craft, and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior, acclaimed bird photographer and author Marie Read shares techniques and stories behind her compelling images, offering fresh insights into making successful bird photographs, whether you’re out in the field or in the comfort of your own backyard.
In this richly illustrated book, you’ll learn how to be in the right place at the right time and how to obtain tack sharp portraits. Marie then teaches you to take your skills to the next level in order to capture action shots, illustrate birds in their habitats, and portray birds in evocative and artistic ways.
Building on basic technical topics such as camera choice, lens choice, and camera settings, Marie reveals how fieldcraft, compositional decisions, and knowledge of bird behavior contribute greatly to a successful bird photograph. Captions for the over 400 images contained in the book provide details on the equipment used, as well as camera settings. Throughout the book, bird behavior insights provide bird photographers of all skill levels a wealth of essential insider information that will help you produce images that stand out from the crowd.
Topics include:
Equipment and accessoriesFocus, exposure, and lightComposition and creativityBird photography ethicsCapturing bird behaviorStorytelling imagesAction and in-flight shotsBackyard photo studioWeather, water, and moodTop bird photo sites in North AmericaBasic image editingAnd much more!
Foreword by Tim Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Living Bird magazine.
Publisher : Rocky Nook
Publication date : March 29, 2019
Edition : Illustrated
Language : English
Print length : 340 pages
ISBN-10 : 1681983621
ISBN-13 : 978-1681983622
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 10.25 x 1 x 8 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book detailed and informative, with one noting it’s filled with hundreds of tips. The photography content receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as beautifully illustrated. Customers appreciate the writing style, with one mentioning it’s very easy to read, and consider it good value for money.
Tom Carey –
Very best bird photography book out there..
A very well thought out book, easy to understand, yet covers the aspects in fine detail. Marie Read is a great photographer and author..
oldbourbonguy –
Finally! A How-To Nature Photography Book That Delivers!
Mastering Bird Photography is a rarity in the How-To nature photography book field. It delivers exactly what it promises. The content is well structured and to the point. Not a word, not a photo is wasted, irrelevant, or self-aggrandizing. EVERY photo (and they are all beautiful, by the way) is there to illustrate a specific technique/issue. I’m an intermediate amateur nature photographer and it met my needs perfectly. If you need to learn basic photography skills, are interested in the history/philosophy of nature photography, love diving deep into photo equipment specs or want to learn all there is to know about bird biology/behavior and species, then this is NOT the book for you. If you are a reasonably skilled beginner/intermediate nature photographer who wants to up your bird photography game, then buy this book! It’s one of my personal Top Five How-To titles. This one deserves its Five Star rating.
Pat –
Excellent Book
Full of detailed information and tips on bird photography. The author gives settings for Canon and Nikon, but my Sony has comparable settings so this wasnât a big issue for me.The book was well written, and full of great photos. I bought it last year and just finished reading it again.
Christine Mendenhall –
Phenomenal Book but now outdated for 2025
This book is indeed masterful and beautiful but beware that it is now outdated; everything from the cameras used to equipment are not for those who have newer cameras. Especially for those with mirror less cameras but itâs still a valuable book that teaches the technique and artistry of bird photography.
RWH –
A superb book for novices and experts alike
This reader is just beginning in bird photography, but has reasonably advanced amateur skills with a DSLR camera. I found the writing to be engaging and technically excellent–her recommendations and tips were to the point and complete. Of course, it will take practice and patience to obtain images of the quality shown in the illustrations, but the results will be worth the effort. The author has certainly encouraged me to take on the challenge of bird photography–and maybe even plan some travel to some of the exciting places where she made some superb photos.I highly recommend this book to amateurs and professionals alike.
Viola –
Lots of good stuff in here
I downloaded the kindle sample. After reading it I couldnât wait for this to come in. Iâm going to get a spiral binding so itâs easier to use. Itâs heavy and well put together. High quality paper and sharp photos. Great instructions, the best bird photography book Iâve found yet.
Dreamer –
Wonderful book for the photographer and birder alike!
This book is simply amazing! It is comprehensive, very easy to read (and understand), and is filled with hundreds of tips on obtaining great shots of birds. My photography has improved enormously since my two readings of this magnificent book. If you’re even casually interested in bird photography, do yourself a favor and buy this book. You’ll be ever so glad that you did!
Brian Beamer –
Great, practical information
Beautiful photos and solid, practical tips on shooting better bird photos, including gear, camera settings and bird behavior. This is the only one of the many bird photography book I’ve purchased that I plan on keeping.
Michel F –
I’ve only started taking photographs of birds but I’ve been involved in photography for the last 20 years and I have read dozens of books on different photography subjects (it’s my second book on birds). I was looking for a good book to get me started and inspired but I really wasn’t looking for a book about the basics of photography and unfortunately many books dwell too much on the basics before getting to the nitty gritty. Not this one. It gets right into the subject matter with good detailed writing and comprehensive examples. Equipment, exposure, composition, panning, post processing workflow and creating a backyard setup. It’s all here.I KNOW this book will take my bird photography to another level. It’s thick and the information is dense and easy to understand. Most importantly, the photographs are excellent and some are downright stunning. Kudos to the writer for giving the technical details of each photograph (shutter speed, F stop, ISO, lens used, with tripod or not, with TC or not). I find this rare in so many books yet it’s very useful for learning what to use and when. Very inspirational stuff.I would suggest any photography newbie to at least get the basics down before diving into this book. Learn how ISO, aperture and shutter speed are related and what they each do. Learn how the auto focus on your camera works as well. This will allow you to understand the specific details of how each picture was taken and enable you to do the same.
Darius Dueholm –
It was a bit too basic for me, maybe I had too high expectations? Some chapters are outdated fx about equipment, focusing (who uses DSLR nowadays?), should be updated or just left out. In short a bit of disappointment.
Messis –
It’s the very best book in photography I have evet read. It’s a magnificent book over bird photography and not only that.I believe that there is no other book out there with such content quality and with such a fidelity in publishing.
JG –
This is one of the most informative and easy to read books on bird photography that I have ever read. Anyone with an interest in photographing birds should have this book in their library. My skill level has increased just by reading this book and no doubt will only get better after reading the book over and over. I would give this a 10 star rating if I could.
Linda –
My husband loves the book. He is a bird watcher and photographer