Best of Make: Volume 2

SPIN THE BIRDIE

By Larry Cotton

Photograph by Sam Murphy

BIRD SHOT

Birds make lousy subjects for digital photographs. They’re fearful, fidgety, and, well, flighty. But you can improve your odds of getting awesome avian photos by moving your camera closer to the birds — and you farther away. And while you’re at it, why not get them to pose for you?

Since converting from film to digital photography more than ten years ago (I bought an Epson PhotoPC with a half-megapixel resolution for $500 in 1996), I’ve sought ways to take advantage of the “tons o’ shots to get a winner” phenomenon. Recently I discovered that bird photography definitely falls into ...