Featured Bird Photographers

Many excellent bird photographers have contributed to the Birdzilla web site. We appreciate their kindness and have featured many of their images on the site.

Select a name from the list of photographers on the left to enjoy some of their work.

Become a featured photographer
We will add a new featured photographer each month. If you would like to be considered as a featured photographer, please drop us a note. We’ll send you the information.

Alan and Elaine are outstanding photographers, focusing on bird, wildlife and natural landscapes.  In addition to great photographs their website naturepicsonline.com features tips on capturing and processing images as well as great places to go that are sure to provide some excellent photographic opportunities.

Many of their photographs are used in various locations on the Birdzilla.com web site.

A. D. (Dee) Patton is a lifelong birder and photographer who grew up in Corpus Christi, TX. How could you not be a birder there? He is a retired Electrical Engineering Professor from Texas A &M University and presently operates a consulting engineering firm. He and his wife Nancy reside in College Station and Rockport, TX, where else for a birder and fisherman? He spends as much time as possible traveling to photograph birds and exhibits his work on line at www.bestbirdpictures.com and at the Austin Street Gallery in Rockport, TX and the Frame Gallery in Bryan, TX.

William H (Bill) Hatfield. 85 years old (at the time these images were submitted), Retired Lt Col. USAF Command Pilot, Combat Veteran with 28.5 years active duty service.

Present home: Booneville, Mississippi (North Mississippi)

Hobby: Amateur Photography, mostly wildlife and especially small and Hummingbirds.

Photo Equipment used:
Canon 7D; Canon 40D; SX50 HS Cameras; Plus several Point-n-shoot cameras.

Canon Lens: EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM; EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM;

EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM;  EF 50mm 1.4 USM; Plus several other various lens.

My absolute favorite is the combination Canon 7D and 70-300mm L Lens. Excellent for wildlife.

Manfrotto: Tri,  & Monopods plus various Manfrotto heads, and accessories

Bill Horn is a well-known photographer from Oklahoma. Here are a couple of his secrets for finding birds to photograph.

You can enjoy more of his photographs on his web site.

“I’m always on the lookout for some new “hotspot” for photographing birds. My friends and co-workers know this, and at least once a week, someone calls to say they have spotted a particular species somewhere within my home state of Oklahoma. Sometimes the networking pays off, but more often it does not pan out. Also, I have “regular” spots that consistently prove successful. The best spot by far is less than 50 feet from my back door. That’s right, my own backyard.

Over 20% of my stock images come from my backyard, which is a two-acre natural bird sanctuary. Located on the edge of suburbia in central Oklahoma, I have created this avian Mecca through placement of carefully selected shrubs, trees, and cover vegetation. I conducted research to ascertain what sort of botanical plants and trees local birds prefer, both as a source of food, and for nesting.In addition, I have a broad assortment of feeders, nest boxes, and birdbaths. Multiple feeders filled with a variety of seeds, nuts, and grain, increases the number of species able to feed concurrently. Larger birds are less likely to scare away small songbirds if there is room for all.”

My love for nature, wildlife and the outdoors began at a very young age. I would go birding with my father, Monte Taylor, often in very remote locations from Canada to islands near Siberia in Alaska to the Dry Tortugas southwest of Florida. By the time I was 17, I had birded almost all of the states in North America and recorded over 700 different species of birds.

Although in the last 15 years I practically lost all interest in birding and photography (due to more “important” life obligations) that changed when I bought my Digital Rebel and began taking pictures once again. I quickly got bored photographing people and scenery – and found my primary interest to be bird photography. In Oct of 2007, I began taking photography much more seriously with the purchase of my Canon 500mm f/4L lens. And most recently, I finally upgraded to the Canon 1D Mark III in May of 2008.

Visit Christopher’s website, kiwifoto.com to enjoy more of his fine work.

Greg is a well known Texas birder and prolific photographer. You’ll find his work on many web sites and in many print publications. He has shared many of his photographs with Birdzilla.  Greg also leads birding trips, specializing in Texas Target Birds.

Scroll down to see more of Greg’s work or visit his website which features hundreds of bird images.

“I have been doing bird photography since 2007 when I was introduced to my 1st DSLR. I feel very fortunate to be living in Southeast Texas where the options are endless for shooting Birds.”

Visit Jimmy’s web site to enjoy more of his excellent photographs.

Lora is an excellent photographer from the San Antonio, Texas area.  Her specialty is photographing the beautiful Golden-cheeked Warbler, which is a central Texas specialty.

Enjoy more of her photographs on her Flickr account.

15 years ago I bought a 3 megapixel point-and-shoot to photograph our newborn grandson.  I took it  to Italy and was so impressed with the quality of the output that I started taking classes.  I then began the steep, inexorable descent into the black hole that is the cost of photography.  My areas of interest have been landscape, urban texture, nature, wildlife, and most recently, birds. Birds are a particular challenge.  It can be difficult enough to get a good speciman shot of a bird standing on a branch, because they’re not often cooperative; they have a habit of flying away. Getting an truly interesting photo requires patience, persistence, and above all, luck. “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine. The beauty of a feather most certainly cannot be told in words.

“I’m Tom Grey, a birder and amateur bird photographer living on the Stanford campus near Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I started out digiscoping just to have identifiable images of the birds I was seeing. But over time, I became more interested in the photography side, and I switched to a digital SLR camera. I’ve been upgrading equipment and (I hope) improving my skills as I’ve gone along.

Here is some technical information about my photography (and a bit on digiscoping).”

Visit Tom’s website, tgreyirds.com for more of my images.

I have been enchanted by nature and wildlife for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Toronto, Ontario I can recall countless hours spent glued to National Geographic magazines, natural history books or watching David Suzuki’s “The Nature of Things” on TV. Those days I took any opportunity I had to study and learn about animals of all kinds.

Nowadays I often find myself up at the crack of dawn, knee-deep in mud or covered in mosquitoes all in pursuit of capturing just a glimpse of nature’s beauty. Although I enjoy photographing all of mother natures fascinating creatures – I tend to focus on birds. Why birds? I think it’s because there are so many species, they can be found almost anywhere, they are challenging to photograph and they are beautiful to watch.

My gear

My primary equipment includes the Canon EOS 50D and 40D camera bodies and an assortment of Canon lenses. By far the lens that sees the most use is the Canon 500mm F4 L coupled with 1.4x and 2x Canon teleconverters. I also use the Canon 70-200mm F4L, the 100mm F2.8 macro lens for close-up work and the 17-40mm F4L for wide angle shots and landscape photography. Ever since reading John Shaw’s book “The Nature Photographer’s Field Guide” I try to shoot everything using a sturdy tripod. I use the Gitzo 1340 Mk II tripod and either a Wimberly gimbal or Markins M-10 ballhead. I use a variety of Canon flashes including the Canon 550EX with a Better Beamer flash extender, 430EX. For more information about the equipment that I use visit my website.

Up next

I currently reside in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia where I am pursuing my Masters degree in Ecological Restoration.

I will continue to strive to improve my craft, and capture some part of the beauty that surrounds us all. Along the way I look forward to sharing my passion for photography and the natural world with each and every one of you.

To see more of my work please visit – www.glennbartley.com