{"id":16948,"date":"2023-06-18T07:40:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T19:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=16948"},"modified":"2023-07-02T11:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T23:17:10","slug":"bird-photography-tips-background-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948","title":{"rendered":"Bird Photography Tips – Background Control"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Photo<\/a>
Kawau t\u016b\u012b\/Little Black Shag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I have written a number of times before about background control, recently<\/a> and less recently<\/a>. It is one of the things that can make a big difference to an image and consciously controlling backgrounds is one of the steps to rapidly improve your images. I shot these following images of the same Little Black Shag on the same perch to illustrate the point for a workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The images in the above gallery are the full frame captures to give context. By changing height and angle I could achieve a number of different backgrounds on the bird. This next gallery shows the quickly edited files to show the range of backgrounds achievable. The first image in the top gallery was my initial image including out of focus foreground elements<\/a> before exploring the other options to illustrate the point and remains my favourite from the series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My priority with backgrounds is to eliminate anything that could draw the eye and distract from the the subject. In these examples all the backgrounds are quite distant and smooth apart from the pure blue background which has an out of focus gull as a pale blob just above the bill of the shag. I managed to minimise this with masked contrast adjustments and could eliminate with some cloning if needed. If it had been a fixed object a small movement could have hidden it behind the shag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 400mm f4.5 CR S and 1.4x teleconverter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bird Photography Tips – Background Control – small changes in position can completely change a background <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[982,17],"tags":[724,26,605,25,144,247,1137,221,983,609,194,190,1121],"class_list":["post-16948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-photography","category-tips","tag-background-control","tag-bird-photography","tag-bird-photography-tips","tag-birds","tag-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand-bird","tag-nikkor-z-400mm-f4-5-vr-s","tag-nikon","tag-nikon-z9","tag-nikonnz","tag-photo","tag-photography","tag-photography-tips","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\nBird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WildLight Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tony\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tony\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tony\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\"},\"headline\":\"Bird Photography Tips – Background Control\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948\"},\"wordCount\":257,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"background control\",\"bird photography\",\"bird photography tips\",\"birds\",\"New Zealand\",\"New Zealand bird\",\"Nikkor Z 400mm f4.5 VR S\",\"Nikon\",\"Nikon Z9\",\"NikonNZ\",\"photo\",\"photography\",\"photography tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bird Photography\",\"tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948\",\"name\":\"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\"},\"description\":\"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Kawau t\u016b\u012b\\\/Little Black Shag\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/16948#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bird Photography Tips – Background Control\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/\",\"name\":\"WildLight Photography\",\"description\":\"Nature Photography by Tony Whitehead\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\",\"name\":\"tony\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tony\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography","description":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography","og_description":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948","og_site_name":"WildLight Photography","article_published_time":"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tony","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tony","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948"},"author":{"name":"tony","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0"},"headline":"Bird Photography Tips – Background Control","datePublished":"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948"},"wordCount":257,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","keywords":["background control","bird photography","bird photography tips","birds","New Zealand","New Zealand bird","Nikkor Z 400mm f4.5 VR S","Nikon","Nikon Z9","NikonNZ","photo","photography","photography tips"],"articleSection":["Bird Photography","tips"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948","url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948","name":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - WildLight Photography","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","datePublished":"2023-06-17T19:40:18+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-01T23:17:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0"},"description":"Bird Photography Tips - Background Control - small changes in position can completely change a background","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"Kawau t\u016b\u012b\/Little Black Shag"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/16948#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bird Photography Tips – Background Control"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/","name":"WildLight Photography","description":"Nature Photography by Tony Whitehead","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0","name":"tony","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tony"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3ThZJ-4pm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20091,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/20091","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":0},"title":"Foliage Fog","author":"tony","date":"May 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Korimako\/bellbird in foliage fog Out of focus foreground foliage causing leaf haze or foliage fog is sometimes considered an unrecoverable death knell for a bird photo. This is especially the case if it results in an isolated bright green blob over part of the subject. These blobs are difficult to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bird Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Bird Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/bird-photography"},"img":{"alt_text":"Korimako\/bellbird in foliage fog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bellbird-20260516-NZ9_2083-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bellbird-20260516-NZ9_2083-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bellbird-20260516-NZ9_2083-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bellbird-20260516-NZ9_2083-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10399,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/10399","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":1},"title":"Bird Photography Tips – Out of Focus Foreground Elements","author":"tony","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Using out of focus foreground elements as a compositional tool in bird photography","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Rockwren-DSC_3317-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Rockwren-DSC_3317-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Rockwren-DSC_3317-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Rockwren-DSC_3317-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10294,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/10294","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":2},"title":"Tawharanui Kingfisher","author":"tony","date":"August 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Kingfisher launching from flax perch A bonus from our trip to Tawharanui was the opportunity to photograph Kingfishers as well as the Brown Teal\/Pateke. New Zealand has one native kingfisher, the Sacred Kingfisher\/Kotare (Todiramphus sanctus), which also occurs in Australia, New Caledonia, Loyalty, Kermadec, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Kingfisher-D5C_8727-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Kingfisher-D5C_8727-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Kingfisher-D5C_8727-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Kingfisher-D5C_8727-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19504,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19504","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":3},"title":"Nikon Z9 Firmware 5.3 Surpasses Nikon Z8 for Birds and Wildlife Photography","author":"tony","date":"December 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Nikon Z9 Firmware 5.3 Surpasses Nikon Z8 for Birds and Wildlife Photography - Nikon Z flagship squeezes pst the Z8 to the front of the queue again.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Bird Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/bird-photography"},"img":{"alt_text":"Little Black Shag","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LittleBlackShag-20251218-NZ9_1665-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LittleBlackShag-20251218-NZ9_1665-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LittleBlackShag-20251218-NZ9_1665-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LittleBlackShag-20251218-NZ9_1665-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12049,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/12049","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":4},"title":"Backyard Bird Hide – Developing the Setup","author":"tony","date":"April 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Backyard Bird Hide - developing the setup with perch and background control","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo showing a Silvereye with maple leaf background","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Silvereye-D85_4194-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Silvereye-D85_4194-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Silvereye-D85_4194-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Silvereye-D85_4194-web.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10377,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/10377","url_meta":{"origin":16948,"position":5},"title":"Bird Photography Tips – Low Shooting Angle","author":"tony","date":"December 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Guinea Fowl scratching for food. A low angle gives eye contact and an intimate view of the activity with good separation of the subject from the background. Bird photography has a number of basic \"rules\". Leaving \"breathing room\" around the subject, allowing space for the bird to \"move into\", not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/BlackSwan-D85_2100-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/BlackSwan-D85_2100-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/BlackSwan-D85_2100-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/BlackSwan-D85_2100-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/LittleBlackShag-20230416-NZ9_3115-1-web.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}