How do you guys take such good photos of your chickens?

[Aunt Angus]

Well, I will try to get some tomorrow if I get home from work before dark. These are too good! I wanna contribute - LOL!

 

[WVduckchick]

I have too many of those to count! They’re always moving around lol

I’d love to see her still and in focus.... if possible.
That pattern is probably even more difficult! I’m guessing she is absolutely beautiful though.

 

[rkapfen]

I’d love to see her still and in focus.... if possible.
That pattern is probably even more difficult! I’m guessing she is absolutely beautiful though.

She is beautiful if I do say so myself

 

[WVduckchick]

She is beautiful if I do say so myself

I agree! Lovely!

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

She is beautiful if I do say so myself

So beautiful she gets her own sofa!

 

[Alexandra33]

Be prepared to take 100 pictures in order to capture a single good shot. That's my best advice. I come away with around 300-400 photos after a single session.....and delete 90%.

Another tip: make unfamiliar sounds. Pop, click, warble, trill, squeak, whatever surprises them. This is sure to make those little heads shoot up momentarily! Just be ready to snap away.

~Alex

 

[jsr5]

You could just raise silkies you can never tell what way they are pointed anyway

 

[jolenesdad]

I’m a photographer and it’s a lot like kids or dogs, so here are my tips....

(I didn’t notice if you mentioned what kind of camera or phone you are using... let me know and I can give more specifics)

Get on their level. This can even mean putting them on your level. (Picking them up and putting them on a fence so you don’t have to squat). Also, you can hold your camera phone upside down, where the shutter button is up top, and be able to get lower. I often will just do this and hold the shutter as the chickens run to me.


Lighting - the softest best lighting for just about ANY situation is diffused light or shade! Cloudy days, in the shade of a building structure, etc. now.... this will take better photos but you may have difficulty stopping action (as you have seen). If that happens you need MORE light. Play around with this... and find spots on your property that can vary the light.

(Also, if the sun IS out, you want the sun behind you. You will be in between the chicken and the sun. Don’t forget the golden hour, which some of my birds are already roosting by.... but just before sunset when the sun gets BIGGER in the sky, the light is softer and there aren’t shadows. The worst light is when the sun is the smallest in the sky.)

For dogs, I always used a duck call and it works with chickens too. They’re like 10 bucks at academy, or you can improvise. The point is, you want to make an engaging, captivating sound just prior to the photo. Not something that will scare the subject, something that will stop them in their tracks and get the attention you want. I have been known to be on my hands and knees BARKING at dogs. Hey.... it gets the shot.

Those are my best generic tips, let us know how that works for you, I’m happy to offer more specific to your camera or property!

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

I tried really hard on Friday to take some better pictures. But bizzarely the morning sun was a problem.

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

And then there were unfortunate backgrounds.

I call this one Fluffy Butt and Rubber Gloves