When we birders talk about "bird photography" we are talking really
about two - and only two - types of photographs: the ID and the
behavior.
"ID photos" cover the vast amount of
photographs taken by birders - including me. The idea here is to get a
photo of the birds you've seen in the field with enough detail so that
you know what it is. Ideally, the shot is full-frame, bright and
sharp. This type of photo is why millions of us spend big bucks on huge
lenses and tripods and bodies and whatnot. ID photos are the logical
extension of all our searching: proof of what we saw and how well we saw
it.
There is a lot of overlap, but "behavior photos"
are a slightly different beast. Here, the focus isn't the
acknowledgement of the species, but the bird in it's habitat - a better
phrase might be "documentary" or "lifestyle" shots. These are the kind
that win photo contests
- the kinds of photos birders would like to take if they could sit down
and take a bunch of pictures instead of rushing to the next twitch all
the time.
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