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How to Relieve Sinus Pressure Naturally

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

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Home » Alternative Medicine » How to Relieve Sinus Pressure Naturally

How to Relieve Sinus Pressure Naturally

If you need to relieve sinus pressure fast, there are many natural and home remedies you can try. Thousands of people struggle with sinus pressure and pain every year, but you don’t have to be one of them. Use these easy methods to relieve sinus pressure and get on with your life.

Instructions

1

Use essential oils to relieve sinus pressure. Place a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil on a handkerchief, or tissue, and inhale for several seconds. Repeat this treatment until the sinus pressure is gone. Eucalyptus essential oil is known to relieve sinus pressure by drying up the mucus in the sinus cavities, and it smells nice too!

Use Oregon Graperoot to relieve sinus pressure. Take 15-30 drops per day of the tincture, as a standard dosage. Oregon Graperoot is a powerful antimicrobial agent, which will relieve sinus pressure and pain by easing inflammation of the mucous membranes.

Use ginger to relieve sinus pressure. Take up to eight 600 milligram capsules per day, as necessary. The anti-inflammatory and pain-suppressing properties of ginger make it ideal for relieving sinus pressure, pain, and headaches.

Eat horseradish to relieve sinus pressure. Add a small amount to your food, or eat it plain if you can tolerate it. This condiment will relieve sinus pressure instantly, and provide relief from headaches and pain.

Drink peppermint tea to relieve sinus pressure. Steep one teabag, or one teaspoon of dried peppermint leaves, in one cup of boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Strain, and add honey to sweeten, if desired. Drink freely throughout the day to relieve sinus pressure. Peppermint contains menthol, which is a powerful decongestant.

Tips & Warnings

Lemongrass essential oil may be substituted if Eucalyptus oil is not available to help relieve sinus pressure.

Eucalyptus essential oil and peppermint tea can be found in natural health food stores, or ordered online.

Never ingest eucalyptus essential oil or allow it to come in contact with the eyes or mouth. It can be toxic if consumed.

Do not use ginger if you have gallbladder disease.

Do not use horseradish if you have ulcers, or other digestive problems.

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New Project 13

5 Benefits Of Online Video Marketing

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year, you will have noticed the huge growth of video on websites and blogs. Online marketing videos are not the future, they are now! So let’s take a look at why you should be creating cheap and simple online marketing videos to promote your business, services or products.

It seems that the average person on the web has the attention span of a goldfish. Write more than a paragraph or two and it looks like ‘work’ to read. Video on the other hand is quick and easy to watch and is seen as entertainment, not effort.

As long as your video is compelling and tuned in to your viewers needs or problems, you have a potential customers full attention. But stray from this for just a moment and your viewer becomes bored and will click away.

When you create a video you are automatically seen as an expert in your field. This gives extra credibility to your business as you become the ‘go to guy’ with the answers to your industries problems.

However, this does mean that you have to put some useful information in your videos, not just a ‘Buy My Stuff’ message.

By its very nature, video is a visual medium. So it is much easier for your customers to watch a short tutorial video than it is to read through a heavy technical manual just to understand a simple point or technique. This method alone can slash your customer support costs.

Customers are untrusting, cynical creatures! They can smell a sales pitch from a hundred yards and click away at the merest whiff of hype. But by putting your message on video you have the opportunity to let your customers see your face rather than your company.

People do not do business with companies; they only spend their hard earned cash with people they trust. And the best way to build trust is to answer their concerns honestly, without hype or spin, and instead of trying to sell them, make it easy for them to buy.

To make the largest profits from the least expense in any business, you need to find a hungry crowd and set up your stall in front of it. By listing your online videos on sites such as Youtube or Google Video and with smart use of relevant keyword tags you have access to a huge audience.

It has never been easier or cheaper to create effective

Using Video Testimonials to increase your websites sales and revenue is simpler than you’ve been told. Everyone with a website faces the same two problems:

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Filed Under: Nature Video Tagged With: Benefits, Marketing, Online, Video

Tricks for finding a good video testimonial expert

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

If you are a business or web-site operator and you have noticed sales, page views, and income lowering, it’s possibly time to change up your promoting methods. Part of your key to converting an informal viewer right into a sale is keeping them in your website. Even so, it really is more and more hard to complete this as folks are bombarded with graphics and well-designed sites. Before it might have already been simple to impress a viewer by your expert web-site, but now it entails just a little additional creativeness. If you take the time to think outside from the box in relation to promoting techniques, it pays for itself many occasions over.

Video testimonials are getting to be a nicely recognized, and much more importantly, a well-respected method of gaining credibility for the product. It entails an person producing a video of them personally reviewing your item or service. For the viewers, this captures their awareness and seems far far more credible than a written testimonial. It also keeps the average user on your web site extra, which indicates additional publicity and likelihood of the sale. A video testimonials capitalizes around the word-of-mouth approach of marketing. Despite the fact that they are a stranger to the new viewer, it nonetheless has the private and helpful factor of hearing a referral straight from a buddy.

The web neighborhood has grown far more accustomed to published testimonials, and concurrently, wary of them as well. There will always be a certain degree of mistrust behind reading through a two line “review” that could have been written by anybody. Regrettably, it’s been heavily overused by pharmaceutical providers and other services that produce a big degree of mistrust naturally. Viewers are also much less and less willing to produce the time dedication to read all the reviews; people respond finest to visual stimulus inside of an obviously laid out method.

A customer testimonial also avoids the bothersome blatant marketing which is adopted by numerous internet websites. Consumers do not want ads thrown in their faces, and they resent catchy ad-phrases that are employed as well normally. Video clip testimonials keep away from all of that by giving a genuine, very good evaluation of the organization, whilst nonetheless keeping the underlying advertisement in the message. The message is saying “I believe in this service, and I’m a typical individual, so it is possible to also,” instead of “buy this now.”

As a website proprietor, you’ll be able to both inspire all-natural video testimonials out of your customers or you may purchase them. The latter is obviously heading to get a lot longer plus the high quality may be questionable. Purchasing video clip testimonials can give your organization the increase it requirements. Most web page proprietors realize that you’ll find a couple of things that they’ve to overcome to be effective on line; building credibility with customers and getting a great deal of visitors. Videos can aid with each of these factors, and really are a minimal investment of time and assets for maximum advantage.

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Filed Under: Nature Video Tagged With: expert, finding, Good, testimonial, Tricks, Video

Animating for Video Games

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

The venerable art of animating still images has existed in some form or another since the 1800s. Today, however, new evolutionary offshoots of the artform make the industry more diverse than ever. Video Games in particular, offer a variety of opportunities and restrictions not found in previous forms of animation.

Regardless of the platform, video games offer a cornucopia of rich animation, be it in the Full Motion Video cut-scenes or the abundant in-game engine animations. FMV can be either hand drawn or CG, and is generated in much the same way one would produce content for film or video. With limited or non-existent user input, FMV sequences are mostly employed for narrative purposes. The in-game engine animations are the real source of the mediums’ potential. It is here that a talented artist is able to tell a story using body language and limited graphics.

“How a character walks (e.g. slouching sadly or bouncing happily) is telling the character’s story,” points out Sam Yip.

Sam Yip is a senior animator at Disney Interactive. His portfolio includes such games as “Pirates of the Caribbean Online,” “Saints Row,” and “Golden Eye: Rogue Agent.” A fan of both traditional animation and recent interactive mediums, he believes the major distinction between games and film lies within the mediums’ objectives. “The goal of [film] animation is to serve a story/narrative, and in video games, the animation’s goal is to serve the game play, so the game player can create his own story.”

While voice over and scripted story sequences are common place in today’s games, the artist’s task is to inject as much personality into the player’s avatar as possible. Yip reminds us that “Video game animations will have a lot of body movements such as running, walking, swinging a sword, and a lot of them will be cycled.” This is where many genre restrictions come into play. Since a player commands the character, an artist is given the task of creating believable movements that can be transitioned to at a moment’s notice. Much of this affects how anticipation is handled.

Anticipation, in both traditional and interactive animation, is how a character physically prepares for a movement. This is a simple process in film and television, since the animator has the storyboard and can prepare accordingly. In games, an animator will be asked to strike a fine balance between instantaneous character response and believable movement.

Technological limitations further challenge this process, such as an engine’s frame-rate. “The anticipations in video game animations could be just a few frames,” reiterates Yip, “if the frame rate is low and those few frames are skipped, then the player will not see the anticipation at all, which lessens the impact and believability of the animation.” This can be overcome by creative planning, and the abbreviation of movements.

Modern games use diverse animation techniques and styles, though the majority achieve 3D animation through Maya and 3DS Max software. This opens up new considerations. In traditional animation, the focus is placed on the action within the frame, yet video games allow us to view the events from nearly any angle, thus requiring a universal approach and wider attention to detail.

As with theatrical CG, the choice between MoCap and Keyframe exists. Some games require a cartoony style that only time-consuming keyed animation can reproduce, while others benefit from the tangible realism of MoCap, though an extensive cleanup process may be necessary.

Video game animation offers a plethora of exciting opportunities and hurtles. For those involved, this digital playground offers a rich and rewarding experience, creating animation that connects to the audience on a more personal level then ever before. (Most sudios also mostly hire full time, rather than by contract!) For those interested in pursuing a career in this field, Sam recommends, “Find your passion, and just do it.”

Mark Garabedian has been an animation aficionado from a young age, having worked his first job mowing lawns in Massachusetts to buy cels. An Emerson College alum, Mark is now a freelance animation writer and member of the Animation Guild, residing in Burbank, California.

Hi, I am Hina Khan, I am a student of 3D Max and CG (Computer Graphics), for more information about my work please visit at : 3dleaks.com

Filed Under: Animal Video Tagged With: Animating, Games, Video

Gif Animator Tutorial: How to Create a Gif Animation With Turn Page-Film Video Effect in Gif Animator?

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

Use the Turn Page-film Video F/X in Ulead GIF animator to create a GIF animation to draw attention and sustain interest. Where can you use such an animation? Web pages, multimedia presentations and e-learning courses are some of the choices.

Consider an example: Say, you’ve a sale of your e-books at fifty percent discount on your website. To highlight this info, use a GIF animation, for example, with two objects. The first object is a text, “SALE”. And, the second one is again a text, “50% OFF”. Next, apply the Turn Page-film Video F/X in GIF animator to each of the two objects.

Set the delay time for each of the two objects and the in-between turn page-film effect frames. What is delay time? It’s how long a GIF Animator animation frame will display before moving to the next frame. That’s it, your animation is ready! Save it as a GIF file and insert it in your web page.

Step-by-Step Tutorial to Create a GIF Animation with Turn Page-Film Video F/X in GIF Animator

View the Turn Page-Film Video Effect animation.

1. Start GIF Animator. The Startup Wizard appears.

The Startup Wizard

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Click Blank Animation.

For this tutorial, I’ve used a canvas size of 233X68 pixels. If your canvas size is not the same, click the Canvas Size button on the Standard Toolbar.

Click the Canvas Size button (shown highlighted)

The Canvas Size dialog appears.

The Canvas Size dialog

Uncheck the Keep aspect ratio checkbox and set the canvas size to 233X68 pixels. Click OK.

TIP: Rather than use two text objects for this animation, you can also use two images. The images should be of the same dimension for precise results.

To insert an image:

Click File > Add Image or press the Insert key. The Add Image dialog appears.

Select an image and click Open.

Click Frame > Add Frame or press Ctrl+Alt+F to add a new frame.

Repeat Steps A and B to insert the second image in the new frame.

Go to Step 13 to create the turn page-film video effec

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. Type the first text object: Click the Text Tool in the Tool Panel.

Click the Text tool (shown highlighted) in the toolbar

Click the cursor anywhere on the canvas. The Text Entry Box dialog appears.

The Text Entry Box dialog

Select 50 for the text size in the Size field. Click the B button to type the text in Bold. Type the text, SALE in the text editor. Click OK. The text appears on the first frame.

Type the text size and text and select a text style

The text you typed appears on the canvas in frame 1
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4. Click the Pick Tool in the Tool Panel. Click the Center Both button in the Alignment Toolbar to center the text both horizontally and vertically.

Click the Pick Tool (shown highlighted) in the Tool Panel

Click the Center Both button (shown highlighted)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. Type the second text object: Click Frame > Add Frame or press Ctrl+Alt+F to add a new frame.

Click Frame > Add Frame

Click the “eye” square to the right of the image object (rectangle) in the Object Manager Panel to show the rectangle (if not already showing).

Type the text, “50% OFF” using the text tool , and center the text, as outlined in Steps 3 and 4.

Click the “eye” square in the Object Manager Panel and type the text

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6. Click the rectangle object in the Object Manager Panel. Make sure the eye icon is displaying in the first square next to the rectangle. If not, click it.

Click the rectangle object in the Object Manager Panel

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. Select a foreground color for the rectangle: Click the foreground color swatch in the Tools Panel to select a different color for the rectangle (if you wish to change its default white color). The Ulead Color Picker dialog appears.

The Ulead Color Picker dialog

Pick a color that contrasts well with the text color. Click OK.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8. Click the Fill Tool in the Tools Panel and then click the rectangle object in the design window. GIF Animator fills the rectangle with the selected color.

Fill a color for the background of the text

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9. Add a Neon effect to the first text object: Click the first frame in the Frame Panel to select it. Use the Pick Tool, and in the design window click the text object to select it.

Select the text “SALE” in the design window

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. Double-click the selected text object and from the context-sensitive menu, click Neon.

Double-click the text and select Neon from the menu

The Neon Settings dialog appears.

The Neon Settings dialog
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

11. Check the Neon checkbox. Click OK. GIF Animator adds the neon effect to the text.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

12. Add the Neon effect to the second text object: Click the second frame in the Frame Panel. Use the Pick Tool, and in the design window click the text object to select it.

Click the second frame in the Frames panel to add the neon effect

Repeat Steps 10-11 to add the neon effect.

The neon effect added to the contents of the second frame

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

13. Click the first frame in the Frame Panel to select it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

14. In the main menu, click Video F/X > Film > Turn Page-film. The Add Effects dialog appears.

Click Video F/X > Film > Turn Page-film

The Add Effects dialog

Click OK. GIF Animator adds fifteen effects frames between the first frame and the last frame.

GIF Animator adds the effects frames in the frames panel

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

15. Play the animation: Click the Play Animation button in the Frames panel. The animation starts and loops continuously. Click the Stop Animation button to stop the animation.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

16. The animation works a bit fast, right? To make the first and the last frames pause for more time, right-click the first frame and from the context-sensitive menu, select Frame Properties. The Frame Properties dialog appears.

Select Frame Properties

The Frame Properties dialog

To delay the first frame for one second, type 100 in the Delay field. Remember, the value you type in that field is one-hundredth of a second. So, 100 equal 100/100, which is one second.

Click OK.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

17. Set the delay time for the last frame also to one second, as above.

Play the animation: Click the Play button in the Frames Panel. If the timing is OK, go to next step. Otherwise, repeat Steps 16-17.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

18. To apply the Turn Page-film video effect to the Last Frame, click it.

Repeat Step 14, but in the Add Effects dialog, to the turn the page opposite to that of the First Frame, click the relevant page direction arrow button.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

19. Play the animation: Click the rewind button and then the play button.

View the Turn Page-Film Video Effect animation.

Written by S Viswakumar
Professional Content Writer and E-Learning Developer

Wild Animals Video

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

If you are searching for a wild animals video, then you will come across a range of interesting videos in various high street shops as well as online stores such as Amazon and other suitable locations.

Animal pictures are very popular with individuals of all ages, which is why so many people enjoy watching a wild animals video when they can view their favorite animals in their natural habitat and educate themselves about their survival in the wild.

If you are interested in seeing wild animals in action, there are plenty of websites such as youtube that provide free clips of wild animals video that you can watch in your own time. There are also some cartoons and funny videos of animals as well as those of educational value. It’s also possible to acquire a variety of wild animal pictures that can be purchased in various locations online.

There are plenty of items apart from dvd’s and videos that have wild animal pictures on them such as useful household and leisure products. They include books, clothing, games, stationery, bedding, posters, curtains and other type of products, which are available to purchase in the high street as well as several stores online. It is up to you to a search to get an idea of what type of items are available to suit your requirements.

If you are considering purchasing products, it is recommended that you conduct a thorough research of the different types of items available so that you can choose the ideal type of wild animal video to suit your preferences.

Written by Andrea25

Digital Photography Tips : How to Meter And Take Photographs of White Birds

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

Exposing for predominantly white birds in digital photography can often be a challenge, and there may be times when the white birds in your images actually look grey in the final photograph. In order to ensure your images of white birds are correctly exposed and result in actual white birds, as opposed to grey looking ones, it is important to understand the camera’s metering system and what it is trying to achieve.

Camera meters are set to automatically expose for mid tones, therefore when taking pictures of white birds the camera may underexpose the image (hence making the birds look grey) or overexpose the image (hence clipping the highlights and losing detail in the feathers). Under exposure usually occurs when the white bird is surrounded by a light background as the camera’s meter attempts to make the white, being the lightest colour in the frame, in to a mid tone grey. Over exposure usually occurs when the white bird is surrounded by a dark background as the camera’s meter attempts to make the predominantly dark background to a grey, blowing out detail in the white highlights in the process.

So how do we overcome this problem? The answer to this is exposure compensation.

When taking images of birds many photographers like to control the depth of field in the shots in order to isolate the bird from the background and make it stand out. Therefore, aperture is often the key in many shots of birds. When aperture is important set the camera to manual mode, dial in the desired F stop and set the camera to spot metering mode, which effectively tells the camera’s meter to consider a small part in the centre of the frame when calculating the ‘correct’ exposure.

Next, point the camera at the lightest part of the bird where you wish to retain detail in the feathers and depress the shutter button halfway to take a meter reading. Leaving the aperture alone, adjust the shutter speed until the visual indicator reaches the zero mark, hence showing ‘correct’ exposure. The camera’s meter is now set to show the white as a mid tone colour, therefore if the image was taken with this setting the bird would be grey in the photograph. To overcome this it is necessary to apply some positive exposure compensation. Even though the white of some birds may be up to three and a half F stops (or more) less than mid tone grey it is important not to dial in too much exposure compensation as it falls outside the parameters of the camera. In the field the amount of exposure compensation should be between half a stop and three F stops to retain the detail in the feathers.

The precise amount will vary from situation to situation, and a key skill for the photographer to learn is to know how much exposure compensation to apply in any given situation. This skill is one that is developed through trial and error, experimenting and getting intimate with the camera and experience. The above method will work in all types of conditions, whether it a bright sunny day, dull and overcast or even raining.

Written by yackers1
ACCA qualified accountant who thirives in the world of business and finance

Filed Under: Bird Photography Tagged With: Birds, Digital, Meter, Photographs, Photography, Take, Tips, White

Bird Photography – How To Take Hummingbirds

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

The most challenging subject in the world of bird photography is the hummingbird. This jeweled bundle of energy has the ability to zoom around at record breaking speeds causing frustration for many a photographer. This article is written to help give you some tips so you can take better hummingbird pictures.

Set out the Hummingbird Welcome Mat

Most places in North America have hummingbirds either seasonally or year round. Just ask your local Audubon Society on when you should put out your hummingbird feeders. You can also find out from them if the hummingbirds in your area need to migrate, and if so, when you should take your feeders down so they don’t get stranded in the cold.

Every serious hummingbird photographer needs a hummingbird feeder. When looking for a feeder, make sure you have one that is easy to clean and that it is easy to fill with sugar water.

Most birders suggest using 4 parts water to 1 part sugar or you can also try using a 3:1 mixture as well. Keep the feeders filled so that the hummingbirds don’t head to a more reliable nectar station. However you should take them down periodically to clean but put them right back up. Also never use food coloring because it can cause dangerous growth on the hummingbirds beaks and it’s not needed to attract them.

Hummingbird Feeders, Perches and Flowers

The biggest challenge with taking hummingbird pictures is that they rarely hold still. Hummingbirds are constantly zooming and darting so it makes it difficult to photograph them. Many photographers make the mistake of trying to follow them with their camera in hand. However, don’t do that as it is best staying in one position and being patient.

You want to think about the kind of bird pictures you want and then set things up to help increase your chances of getting the shot. After you’re all set up, all you have to do is have your camera ready and get comfortable. Many photographers use a stabilizer device like a tripod or monopod so the camera is always ready for the next shot. Some photographers use blinds so they can move without worrying about scaring off a hummingbird.

If you want photographs of hummingbirds hovering, remove the perches from your feeders. And if you plug all the holes but one it will be easier to get a pictures of one hummingbird at a time. You will still have hummingbirds zipping around trying to chase off the other birds from the feeder regardless of what you do.

Now if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds perching, watch where the dominant male goes after he fills up at the feeder. Usually, hummingbirds will perch where they have a good view of the feeder. If the perch isn’t in a good position for you to take pictures, you’ll need to do some rearranging. Move the feeder closer to a perch that works for you.

You can also move it farther from the natural perches and add a new perch that is in a photo friendly location. The hummingbird won’t mind as long as he or she can keep an eye out for intruders. Eventually the hummingbirds will get used to you and your camera, but movement will likely frighten them off so make sure you’re in a quiet area with very little activity.

If you have a particular flower that would make a lovely picture with the hummingbird but they are never there long enough for you to press the shutter release, try this photographer’s trick: Using an eye dropper, gently fill the flower with some sugar water. This only works for a short time because the flower will begin to wilt after just a few hours.

As with feeders and perches, you can also hang a basket of flowers to help attract them for photographing. However no matter if you use a flower or feeder, you’ll still only have about 8 seconds tops to take your pictures. Always be patient and don’t press the shutter release until the hummingbird has a had a sip of nectar or sugar water. Otherwise if the flash frightens them off, they won’t have as much incentive to venture back.

Check Your Background

The best background for hummingbird photography is something dark green that doesn’t have any distractions in it like brown twigs or branches. If you want a mobile background try a dark green potted plant or a painted poster board. The main thing is to have a dark background that makes the hummingbird’s colors pop.

If you look for hummingbird pictures in google images you’ll get a good idea of what backgrounds work and what doesn’t. Note how brilliantly colored hummingbirds fade into some backgrounds, like the bright green, sun lit trees and shrubs. A shaded area behind the feeder or perch also works well as a good background.

You can use photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop Elements, to blur the background and make the hummingbird stand out from the background.

You can also find tutorials on this on websites like Adobe.

Lights, Camera, Action

Once you have your hummingbird feeding station set up, now you just need to find a comfy place to sit with your camera and tripod. In order to freeze their beating wings, you will need a high speed flash but you can still get some great pictures with a good compact camera by using these tips.

Remember, hummingbirds may be the most challenging subject in bird photography, but with some patience you will soon have a nice collection of hummingbird photography to frame and display in your home.

Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames. If you’re looking for a unique one of a kind gift or a gift that will go with any decor, check out this website or call 1-800-780-0699.

Bird Photography Tips

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

A few people have emailed me asking for some bird photography tips and tricks of the trade. After some thought on the subject, I have come up with the following 10 tips for photographing birds.

Practice with the Locals. The best way to become familiar with photographing birds in your own backyard. What birds can you photograph at home? Do you have a birdfeeder or birdbath set up in your yard to draw birds in? Use these local birds to see behaviors such as how close you can get before they spook, and whether they eat at the feeder or take the food to somewhere nearby to enjoy it. Start by photographing birds in your yard to get used to their movements and feeding habits.

Timing is everything. Most species of birds eat in the morning or late afternoon. Get to know the habits of the bird that you are photographing and where it returns every day to feed.

Walk softly. Learn how to approach birds quietly and with very little movement.

This goes for all wildlife photography.

Be respectful of nature. When photographing a bird, or photographing any wildlife, never corner the animal. Be mindful that the bird has a way of escape if it gets scared. This helps to ensure that the bird does not begin to fear all humans because of one disrespectful one.

Be wary of the weather. If the weather is threatening, the birds will tuck themselves where they will be safe from the weather. It may be best to just try another day.

Know what you want. Study bird photographs. Most bird photographs were the result of countless hours of waiting, and perhaps returning for several days to the same location that the bird frequents. If the image that you seek is of an Osprey catching a fish, the odds are very small that you will just happen upon that opportunity and get it, especially with the perfect light and background.

Do not chase. It sometimes is hard to finally see the bird that you want to photograph and not chase it around wildly. Be conscious of your movements and the signals that you giving to the animal. If you act frantic, don’t you think that the bird will too?

Behaviors make the best bird photographs. Photograph birds doing natural movements such as pruning, bathing, or feeding make for much more interesting photographs than a bird sitting on a wall.

Prepare in advance. When you know where you are going, and when the bird will be there, it is easy to get a chair and tripod set up so that you are ready to photograph the bird when it arrives. Do your homework.

Be patient! I always have to reiterate this with new wildlife photographers. The bird is not going to arrive and ask for its photo to be taken! It is a blessing when the opportunity for a great photograph happens. Appreciate it!

Deidre Heindl is a professional wildlife photographer, and the owner of the site Images By Deidre. To learn more, or to see her photographs, please visit her site at:
http://www.ImagesByDeidre.net

Filed Under: Bird Photography Tagged With: Bird, Photography, Tips

How to Observe Wildlife without Leaving Home

June 9, 2011 By mfnature Leave a Comment

Studies have found that children today consider nature to be somewhere else—on TV, videos, in the National Geographic only. But in reality, a genuine connection to wildlife around the globe is only an extension of a connection to the earth right where you stand. Good naturalists don’t gain their knowledge from formal schooling, they get it in the field, by direct observation. And this observation can start right in your backyard or at the park down the street.

This article will offer pointers for keeping a nature journal. It draws heavily on the program laid out in the book Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth.

The tools needed to start nature journaling are simple and inexpensive. One needs a notebook and something to write with. Experimentation will reveal your personal preferences for lined or clear paper, binding type, size, and lead or ink.

As you gain experience you may add a small set of watercolor paints or colored pencils. If you use pencils you may need a sharpener, or you can use mechanical pencils, which yield more technical-looking drawings. You may also use a collecting bag for objects that you want to draw and study indoors. (Although you should collect only fallen objects, where permission is given).

There are no hard and fast rules for nature journaling, although entering observations using a heading is good practice. For your heading you may include your name, the date and time (it doesn’t have to be an accurate clock time), the place, weather conditions, your first impressions, wind direction (use a compass for this), and cloud patterns and cloud cover.

To get started you may find this sequence of observations helpful, as it gets you in the habit of observing all around you:

Start by looking at the ground. Get a close up view of individual objects. Try to draw one or more in your journal, labeling each item. Take no more than five minutes per object, and give size measurements (you don’t need a ruler, just estimate.) For further learning, try writing at least one question about each object.

Now stand up and draw what comes into view at eye level. Label the object and describe what it’s doing, or what it is part of.

Look up from where you are standing. Record what you see above, and how it makes you feel.

Nature journals are not just for artists. Don’t worry if your renderings look like scribbles. The point is that you are connecting to your environment.

Some questions you may use to direct your journaling, and deepen your connection to the life around you are:

What are the trees in my neighborhood? When do they bloom? What do their fruits and seeds look like? What insects use the trees? When do they shed their leaves? How do their seeds get to new sites to grow?

What birds live in my neighborhood? What is their activity at various times of the day? How do different species of birds interact with each other?

What kinds of insects gather around the light at my doorway each night throughout the year?

When and where do mushroom species appear in my neighborhood?

Using questions like these you may find yourself discovering both the landscape you live on, and the landscape that lives in you. Those who keep a journal know that journaling is a form of journeying, and a well-kept journal can become a treasured record of where we have been, what we have seen, and what we have felt as we’ve interacted with the world.

You don’t have to visit the glaciers of Alaska, or India’s jungles, or the savannahs in Africa to connect to Mother Earth, although who of us wouldn’t jump at the chance? Start by putting roots down right where you stand.

“It seems only natural that we should value most what we are in contact with everyday…yet the reverse is often true. We appear to place a higher value on rare animals and plants and spectacular views and far-flung places. Of course both are important because they fulfill different needs. But the every day places desperately need our attention—partly because they are changing so fast, and not always for the better, and also because tremendous benefit is to be gained from a personal involvement with your own locality.”

~The Parish Maps Project, London, England, 1987

About the Author

Emma Snow has always adored wild animals. Emma provides content for Wildlife Animals http://www.wildlife-animals.com and Riding Stable http://www.riding-stable.com.

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