help making a natural looking bird feeder environment....

[frog4gators]

I am in the beginning stages of creating a mega feeder in my backyard. I live on an acre lot (1/2 wooded, 1/2 lawn). In live in the back end of a subdivision so my backyard butts up against a forest. I have put out a few feeders and am excited to say I have a nice variety of birds that frequent my yard (still room for improvement). I'd like some help/ideas on making it looking 'natural' as possible. I hate taking pics with a bird feeder in it. I'd also like natural looking perches. Anyone know of any sites or have any experience that they can share? Thanks for everything!

[mjs1973]

I remember seeing a video about setting up a backyard 'studio' for bird photography a while back but I can't seem to find it. The main point of the video was to set up a natural looking perch, and limit the food source. If you have 10 feeders, the birds could go to any of them. If you have 1, you know where they are going to go. As far as the perch goes, I would try to find something that is native to your area. It could be something as simple as a branch off of a dead tree, or a native flower. Another thing I would do is to make sure it was set up with a nice background that was far enough away that it would be nicely blurred to give you good separation between the sharp subject and the out of focus background.

This video is more of an advertisement for a work shop, but you can clearly see some of the setups used. I will keep looking for the other video that I saw and post it if I can find it.

[mjs1973]

Here is another article that you may find helpful.

[Loupey]

I agree with Mike regarding the background.

For general layout examples, you might want to visit state/metro parks. They usually have a visitors' center with views to their feeder area. Also, Birds and Blooms magazine typically shows people's setups.

Many people use natural items for feeders - hollowed out stumps, logs, etc.

I would position branches coming in from both sides. Angle them from slightly behind (but mostly from the sides) so they point towards the feeder - I'm picturing about 100-degrees from your line of sight - so that the birds will perch and always point slightly towards you but still offer their sides in view.

[frog4gators]

MJS - WHAT A GREAT VIDEO!!! Can you imagine having that?

Loupey - Is that a magazine you subscribe to? Can you suggest one?

Thanks for this info!!! It's a BIG help!!!