You may have heard the similes “as free as a bird” or “as light as a feather”. Many ideas of freedom and joy revolve around birds. The Eagle, for example, symbolizes the American ideals of freedom and bravery.

For photographers, birds make marvelous subjects. A bird in flight is an extraordinary sight to behold, and in the spring, a male bird’s vivid coloring is nothing short of breathtaking. Moreover, for photographers trying to capture the abstract idea of freedom, a bird in flight can highlight the theme perfectly.

As stated in Backyard Beginnings, you do not necessarily have to travel far to capture the image you are searching for. Given enough patience, and bird-food, you can discover many beautiful songbirds right outside your door, but what if songbirds are not what you are searching for? Are you hoping to capture a humble barn owl, or maybe a majestic bald eagle? If so, I know a great photo spot for you.

The World Bird Sanctuary is located at 125 Bald Eagle Ridge Rd, Valley Park, MO 63088, right next to Lone Elk. This sanctuary is home to a variety of birds of prey, including eagles, vultures, and hawks. You will also be able to find pelicans, owls, and crows also reside at the sanctuary, and you may even stumble across a bird you have never seen before.

The variety of animals, paired with their proximity to guests at the sanctuary, make the sanctuary a perfect location for wildlife photography, especially if you are looking for a closeup shot of a bird of prey. Along with the wide array of birds, the World Bird Sanctuary also offers many walking trails. These trails may be perfect for nature photographs, but while this location offers a stupendous opportunity for capturing birds of prey, there are a couple of points to keep in mind.

First, the walls of many enclosures use wiring. This feature allows visitors to easily see and hear the animals, but it comes with a drawback. Focusing on the birds through the wiring can pose an issue.

However, here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the effects. I recommend using a low F-Stop while visiting the World Bird Sanctuary. The F-Stop determines how much of the picture is in focus, and the lower the number is, the less focused areas around the subject will be. So, when birds are away from the wiring, it can seem as though there is no barrier at all. I should add, that recently, the World Bird Sanctuary had been phasing out the old wiring for wiring that is closer together. This makes focusing more difficult in some enclosures.

This leads me to my second tip. If auto-focus continually highlights the wires, consider switching to manual focus for the trip.

Finally, keep in mind that some enclosures have wood tops, so the brightness in the enclosure will be different from the brightness outside. This has the potential to make pictures underexposed.

With all these ideas taken into consideration, the World Bird Sanctuary is a great photo spot for photographers looking to capture that perfect nature or wildlife shot.