As a retired theatre technician, I am quite familiar with props; they are an essential part of any theatrical production. The photographer can also use props to improve his or her work.
Many people have bird feeders, either in their back yards or, when traveling, hanging within view of the RV. I’m no exception – we started small, and now have gone completely overboard. We started with the typical feeder on a pole, then one with two arms, and finally, a piece of 1 1/4″ pipe with 4 welded arms holding 11 feeding stations. That doesn’t include 2 hummingbird & 1 Oriole feeders! As I said, completely overboard.
The feeding stations are a great place to photograph birds, but the feeders themselves sometimes distract from the pictures of the birds.
Here are a couple of photos of birds at the feeder:
The solution? Add some branches. In my case I used a couple of wire ties to lash the branches to the arms of the feeder. The birds usually land on the branches before hopping over to the individual feeders, providing a more natural setting for a photograph.
One note – if you are trying to fool your friends into believing you found all those birds in the woods, change the branches every once in a while – different birds on the same branch gives away the trick. Also, although I didn’t do it the last time I replaced them, be sure to include both vertical & horizontal branches – different birds favor one or the other.
Another useful tool is a collection of backgrounds. Professional photographers use 12′ – 15′ wide background paper in their studios. You don’t need to go that far, but a couple of 3′ – 4′ square pieces of fabric are very useful. I started using them when I was photographing dogs & cats for a local shelter. The photographs were used to advertise the animals in local newspapers for placement in homes and the background of a cage didn’t work well. I went to a local theatrical supplier & asked for some end pieces of velour (a heavy velvet like material used for stage curtains). I got mine free, however I have to admit the head of the sewing shop was a prior student of mine. Still, since they often have small pieces left over, I’d try a theatrical sewing shop before paying full price at a regular sewing store for velvet. In any case, I keep a bunch of 4′ square pieces of a couple of colors to use as temporary backgrounds. Although my original use was to mask or hide animal cages I found they were useful behind all kinds of things. Want to take a picture of a flower & not include the fence or what ever is in the background? How about photos of items in your house or RV? Drape a piece of fabric behind it. Anytime you want to hide the background a piece of cloth works wonders.
Here is the difference:
I Keep the fabric wrapped around a couple of 4′ tomato stakes & a couple of clothes pins, tied with piece of heavy string that I use to hang it from. In a house it could be draped over the back of a chair, etc. I like the heavy velour because it drapes well, and absorbs light. A lighter material might be easier to store, however if your flash reflects back to the camera it can cause problems. Black velour is particularly useful in that it completely isolates the subject and the plush surface absorbs the spill from your flash eliminating flash shadows on the background. It will work best if you place it as far as possible behind the subject and shoot with a wide aperture so that the cloth is out of focus.
Another item I found useful when taking pictures of dogs & cats is a squeaky toy. It also works well with children and sometimes even with adults. Once you are ready to take the picture squeeze the toy next to the camera & you will have everyone looking into the lens. You need to be ready – it only works once or twice!
If you take photos on small items, getting them to stay in one place can sometimes be difficult. Keep a package of Fun Tak or museum putty in your camera bag to hold things in place.
Although not exactly a prop, if you like to take pictures of small animals, try some food. Although I would frown on staking out small animals to attract birds of prey or predators (it has been done) I have used peanuts & sunflower seeds for squirrels & chipmunks & birds. One of my favorite photographs of a chipmunk was the result of leaving a grape on a rock wall.
There are many other props that can be useful to the photographer. Before your next planned photo session take the time to think about things that would be helpful. It will result in much better pictures!