Bird Photography – How to Take Great Pictures
13 Feb 2010, written by Alisha
Photo Courtesy: Luc Viatour
Bird photography is one of the most popular types of animal photography and can be one of the most difficult. The biggest challenge with taking bird pictures is getting the birds to perch exactly where you want them. So here are some tips for how to attract birds to your yard and how you can persuade them to perch on branches perfect for taking pictures.
The best way to get great bird pictures is to create a bird “photo shoot” and attract birds to your backyard. So, here are a few tips in creating a bird friendly backyard.
Photo Courtesy: Luc Viatour
1) Create feeding stations and birdbaths in areas that are great for taking pictures (offer nice backgrounds). Try to have a background in a solid color like green, brown or black as this will make the bird really stand out in your image. Try to avoid areas with sunshine hot spots (that show as a bright white spots) as these will distract from the bird in the picture.
2) Choose a location that gives the birds a little protection and makes them feel safe from predators.
3) Determine what types of birds you want to attract and then find out what is the proper type of bird food to attract them. You can find out by checking with the Audubon Society or going to the National Wildlife Federation’s Gardening for Wildlife website for more information. It’s important to feed the birds properly with quality seed as if you give them “bread crumbs” during the winter they may fill up on this “junk food” and be unable to stay warm at night.
Photo Courtesy: Luc Viatour
4) Position bird feeders and bird baths near trees or shrubs that have areas easy for perching. By having the feeders near trees with low branches, this increases the chance the birds will land there before going to the feeder or bird bath.
Once you have a good position for your bird photo shoot, now you need to set up your camera for shooting. Normally, the best way to get a great bird picture is staking out a location and waiting for them to land. This generally won’t take long if you have your feeding stations set up and established as a source of food. But for photographers who prefer to work on chance, you can occasionally get lucky when chasing birds from branch to branch. The only problem is that you have to hope the bird stays on the branch long enough for you to get the shot. So, here are some tips on setting up your camera.
Photo Courtesy: Luc Viatour
1) Since birds are so active, you will need a high shutter speed of at least 1/250 (or you can also use Spots mode). If you don’t use a high shutter speed, a slight flick of a tail or head movement will leave your photos fuzzy.
2) If you can, use a telephoto lens on your SLR. Or, if you have an optical zoom on your digital compact camera definitely use it. When using a zoom or telephoto lens, you will also need a tripod otherwise your images will lack clarity. And if you are trying to take birds in flight or perched high in trees, professional photographers often use a 600 lens to capture good detail from far away. Since telephoto lens are expensive, some birders use digiscoping. Digiscoping combines a spotting scope with a digital camera as you can read about here.
Hopefully these few tips can help you attract more birds to your yard and help you capture some truly amazing bird photographs.
Thank you to Luc Viatour for the use of his fabulous images.
Seamless Wood Picture Frames
04 Feb 2010, written by AlishaIf you love wood picture frames but are looking for a modern twist on the classic wood frame, then you should check out seamless wood picture frames. Seamless wood picture frames are just what they sound like- they have no wood seams on the face of the frame. Seamless wood frames are made from a single piece of wood for the face of the frame giving them a beautiful smooth finish with no joined corners like most frames. Seamless wood picture frames have a more modern look because the frames have a flat wood face giving it a more unique look.
The seamless wood picture frames we offer are made by Framatic. These frames are well made and are made out of composite wood and are worth checking out if you want an eye catching modern picture frame. Plus, since these frames are made out of composite wood they require less natural resources than real solid wood frames. They can be hung on the wall or displayed on a table and come with both hanging hardware and clip on easel back stands.
The seamless wood picture frames we offer are Framatic’s Icon, Max, Metro and Modern series. Here is a little bit about each frame to help give you a better idea of the different types of seamless wood frames that are available.
Icon White Picture Frame (left) and Max White Picture Frame (right)Max Wood Picture Frames
Max Wood Picture Frames
Max frames come in a variety of sizes and have a smooth flat front and modern style. These super simple frames make great gallery frames and come in Max Black and Max White.
Icon Wood Picture Frames
Icon frames are identical to the Max series of frames but have a beveled wood molding around the edge of the photo to give the frame some added depth. To see our selection of this stylish frame, check out the Icon Black Frame and Icon White Frame.
Modern Wood Picture Frames
If you’re looking for a seamless wood frame with a mat, then you can choose between the Modern and Metro series. The Modern series comes with a pre-cut archival white mat in sizes 4×6 up through 8×10, however doesn’t include a mat in frames larger than 8×10. This Modern series of frames comes in five different colors: red, sage green, black, white and chocolate and has a seamless wood frame front.
Metro Wood Picture Frames
The Metro Series, on the other hand, includes a white archival mat in every size from 4×4 up through 20×24. This frame has a smooth, seamless front and is available in black and white. If you’d like to see our selection of Metro Frames in different sizes and shapes, check out our Metro White Frame and Metro Black Frame.
So the next time you’re looking for a modern wood frame or a gallery frame to display your artwork, check out seamless wood picture frames as they’re sure to make your pictures and artwork really stand out.
New Affiliate Program and $500 Picture Frame Contest
02 Feb 2010, written by AlishaIf you own a website or blog and would love a chance at $500 in free picture frames and to make some extra money every month, then this post is for you. Normally we try to reserve our blog for informative and helpful information but we’re simply too excited about our new affiliate program.
Now photographers, artists and owners of family friendly websites or blogs have the opportunity to refer picture frame customers and receive commissions up to 12% on direct referrals and 2% of their referred sub-affiliates sales! Plus, our affiliate program is designed for every affiliate skill level from beginning to advanced and offers an affiliate website with real time tracking of sales, performance incentives and exclusive offers and tips to help you be successful. If you’d like more information on our affiliate program go here.
So, in celebration of our new YourPictureFrames.com Affiliate Program, we are giving away $500 in picture frames.
If you want to participate in the $500 picture frame contest- here’s what you have to do:
- You have to have a family friendly website or blog that doesn’t contain any inappropriate stuff like gambling, pornography, drugs, etc.
- You have to apply to become a YourPictureFrames.com Affiliate and be approved (If you’re not sure what an affiliate is or how you could benefit learn about our affiliate program here). Just remember it’s completely free to apply and all you have to do is link back to our site so you can get paid for customers you refer.
Starting today, any affiliate in our program on or before February 1, 2010 through May 30, 2010 is automatically entered into our $500 picture frame contest when they add a link (from their website) to our website (http://www.yourpictureframes.com). Then on June 1, 2010 an unbiased third party will randomly select an affiliate as the winner. That’s pretty much it…but if you want to read the legal verbiage you can see the Contest Rules here.
Hope this has sparked your interest in becoming a YourPictureFrames.com Affiliate! If it has, apply today 
Featured Artist: Meridith McNeal
11 Jan 2010, written by Alisha
This week we’re featuring artist Meridith McNeal and her one person exhibition at Figureworks Gallery in New York. The exhibit, called “In the Footsteps of the Starry Messenger” started on January 8 and goes through February 21. We’re proud to feature Meridith McNeal and Figureworks Gallery for their inspiring exhibition displaying some of our white picture frames.
The exhibit includes over 40 nib pen and ink drawings painted in watercolor, ranging in size from 7 inches to 7 feet. This exhibit was inspired by the Italian astronomer, Galileo Galilei and his discovery in January of 1610 when he observed four very bright objects close to Jupiter. This led Galileo to later conclude that the sun was the center of the universe and published his findings in his book, The Starry Messenger. It is the scientific event that changed the course of history and was the springboard for this exhibit. McNeal explains “The work is about the people who have been in that particular space and what they have done there. I chose to draw shoes to represent the people themselves.” The shoes are depicted from photos taken by Meridith of people in the streets of Rome and shoe images in Roman advertising while she was in residence at The American Academy in Rome in the spring of 2009.
Here is a sampling of her striking ink drawings painted in watercolor framed in our white picture frames. These watercolors are 7×7 and are framed in 8×8 solid wood white picture frames.
If you’re interested in buying one of her works or want to see the exhibit, please visit Figureworks at 168 N. 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York 11211 or call Figureworks at 718-486-7021 for more information.
New Framatic Metal Picture Frames
02 Jan 2010, written by AlishaWe’re happy to announce that we’re now offering Framatic Metal Picture Frames on our website! Framatic Frames has led the picture frame industry for years with their patented easy to use quality metal picture frames.
If you’re a photographer, artist or someone who loves gallery picture frames, once you try one of their easy to use metal picture frames you’ll never want to go back to other metal gallery frames. We’ll be offering their selection of metal picture frames- each with its own unique customer benefit. Here is a quick overview of the Framatic metal frames we’ll be offering:
Fineline Aluminum Metal Picture Frames
These exceptionally thin Fineline aluminum frames have a 1/8″ molding allowing for the focus to be on your photo or artwork. These frames offer easy loading of your photo or artwork and come with a single archival white mat or a double (shadow) archival white mat or no mat at all. They have a patented “Framlok” corner joining system that make it simple to remove one end of the frame and load your image. They also have easy to use spring clips that allow the depth of the frame to be adjusted and hold up to 3/8″ of artwork and matting.
Cirrus Shadow Box Frames or Floating Picture Frames
These versatile Cirrus metal picture frames can be used as both a 1/2″ depth shadow box frame as well as a floating picture frame. These frames have an overall exterior depth of 1 3/16″ and a thin 1/4″ wide aluminum molding. As a shadow box frame they have a full 1/2″ depth interior to hold objects and a 3/16″ archival foam core backing to secure your items and keep them protected. Or, if you’d prefer to use this frame as a floating picture frame, the frame comes with 1/4″ thick mounting tabs so your image can look like it’s floating freely between the glass and the white archival foam core backing.
Superlight Poster Frames
This Superlight poster frame is super light and is truly the best quality poster frame we’ve found. This poster frame is well made and offers the clean style and easy to use function expected with Framatic metal picture frames. The frame comes in either silver or black and has a 1/4″ wide face aluminum molding and comes with a thin styrene front to cover the poster image. You’ll be amazed at the incredible light weight of this frame compared to its overall size.
Tempo Metal Picture Frames
This aluminum Tempo Metal Picture Frame is similar to the Fineline Metal Picture Frame but has a wider aluminum molding. It is popular among artists because it can hold up to a 1/4″ of thick artwork or multiple mats. Unlike most metal frames, this frame’s molding won’t pull away from the back when hung because of it’s spring loaded clips. This easy to use metal frame uses the patented “Framlok” corner joining system so artwork can be easily installed in seconds. This frame comes in gold, silver and black and is available in a wide selection of sizes.
Framatic has been selling quality picture frames for decades and we’re happy to finally be able to offer them to you on our website.