Professional Backyard Bird Photography Aspiring bird photographers are often frustrated by their subjects (birds) being too small in photographs. Professional photographers can sometimes afford to spend $10,000 for a long, fast lens to capture tack-sharp photos of birds that appear to be jumping out of the picture. Let?s face it, a lot of people don?t have 10 grand laying around that can be spend on a lens that will see modest use and will rarely pay for itself. Don?t despair, you have options. As a pro photographer I have a fairly long lens. It is a Canon 400mm L lens. One of my buddies has a 500mm lens and I know people who have 600mm lenses. Some of these lenses are so large that it will wear a photographer out carrying them and the tripods needed to support them. How much can photography basics you afford to spend on a lens? Most serious amateur photographers can find a way to afford a 300mm lens. This is plenty of power if you are close enough to your subject. Ah, but there is the catch. How do you get close to our wary feathered friends? If you have a large backyard, you can create your own private bird studio in it. This makes for a sweet deal. Think about the problems that you have photographing birds. How many times has the light been coming from the wrong direction when you had a shot? Do the birds move too quickly for you to compose and focus properly? Both of these problems, and many others, can be solved with a backyard shooting zone. Let me give you an example of how I overcome many of obstacles associated with bird photography. I use blinds to conceal myself.