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One of the most challenging of all facets of wildlife photography and the one that I get the most enquiries about is bird photography. At the same time it is one the most rewarding aspect and I have probably won higher awards in photographic competitions with my bird photographs than in any of the other categories. While there are some bird photographs that can be done with point and shoot cameras (like huge flocks of birds) most will require a single lens reflex (SLR) camera and a reasonably long focal length lens (300mm and longer).

Probably, the easiest and quickest ways to get great pictures of birds is to visit one of the many bird parks, aviaries or raptor centres around the country. The birds are invariably reasonable accustomed to humans and one can normally easily approach to within a few metres or so. Here's where the 300mm range of lenses works very well and a 400mm even better but do remember that it is still critical to keep the camera still during exposure otherwise the image won't be sharp. I use a tripod (which is an absolute pain) in these conditions but a monopod may very well suffice and it's a great deal easier to move about than a tripod. First prize though would be one if the image stabilizing lenses.

With many birds, like gulls and guinea fowl, it is possible to get really close to them provided one does it slowly. Again one needs a solid support for the camera and quite often a beanbag on the ground is the best option. The low viewpoint will enhance the images but it does mean that you will be lying on the ground. Now this is not necessarily all that bad if its gulls on a nice white beach but if its guinea fowl on wet grass or sand then you need to decide just how much you want the pictures! And if you are on the beach be very careful about getting sand into your camera or lens. If there is a wind blowing it's a nightmare – I've just come back from a shoot in Cape Town and this was a very real problem.

In the game and nature reserves a car makes a very effective hide and I have often managed to get some great pix of the larger birds – rollers, hornbills and some of the raptors straight out of the car. The cautious approach is the way to go here but if you happen to see a bird (or an animal) at the last moment, don't simply hit the brakes. All the noise and dust will almost certainly scare the bird away. Rather drift slowly to a halt a fair distance past the animal and then slowly reverse until you're in position. While you're reversing, get the window open and the beanbag and camera into position rather than waiting until you've stopped right next to the bird. A 300mm lens is probably going to be a bit short for this sort of thing – somewhere around 400 or 500mm would be considerably better.

A small portable hide can be a really useful tool if you are at a spot where you know birds will be. A birdbath in the garden is a great place as are feeding tables. If you don't want to get the bath or feeding table in the picture simply place a nicely shaped perch nearby and you can bet your bottom dollar that the birds will use it en route to the tray or bath. Another idea for a perch is along waterways where kingfishers are sure to use it, especially if it's been in position for a while. Because most of the kingfishers are very, very small you will either need to be extremely close or that focal length needs to grow a bit. I regularly use my 600mm f4 lens here with the 1,4X converter attached resulting in an effective 840mm f5.6 lens. While the prices of these “big guns” look more like telephone numbers than something that you'd associate with buying a lens, a 600mm mirror lens can be purchased a very much more reasonable price and they are light and compact making them easy to use in a hide or a vehicle.

Action is always the thing to go for and getting a great flight shot is invariably rewarding. One of the easiest places to do this is near fishermen on the beach. There are always gulls and other sea birds flying about and it can be great fun blazing away at anything that moves. Auto focus is a real advantage here – almost essential I would say – and you should easily be able to get away with a lens under 300mm. A 75 – 300mm lens is ideal   (especially if it has an image stabiliser built into it) because you can zoom in and out as the birds move about. This is a great time to experiment and get creative. Try slow shutter speeds (around 1/4 or 1/2 a second, or even longer) that will result in very blurred mages. These don't always work but when the do…! Or try zooming when you release the shutter (also with a slow shutter speed). Try turning the camera around the lens axis when you release the shutter. Shoot silhouettes. But have fun.

The same rules of composition apply to bird photography as to any other discipline. Try to place the bird's eye on one of the “thirds” , get the eye sharp and be aware of what's happening in the background. While sometimes one needs to work really quickly there is rarely a mad panic so look at the image that you're getting in the viewfinder. Think of it as a picture in itself rather than looking through the viewfinder at the bird. Check for things intruding into the picture, distracting elements and what the bird is doing. Has it go a catch light in its eye? Is its head at a pleasing angle or is it looking unnatural? Work consciously rather that simply releasing the shutter when the bird is in focus.

Alas, I don't get as much bird photography done as I'd like to. It's very time consuming and it can be most frustrating but when you do crack it the picture can be beautiful.

If there's something that you would like to read about in this column or questions you have , feel free to contact me on e-mail at info@africaimagery.com . I will try to get back to you but things sometimes get a little hectic around here so please forgive me if I don't. It will, though, help to give me an idea of what you want to know