Okay, so you've remembered to plan out your background, the light is right and your hoped for bird has just landed right in front of you. You wait until the right instant as it glanced at you and the light shines into its eye. Click and you're done. Right? Well not quite. There's something not quite right when you look at the image. You forgot the feet. Sure, it's happened to all of us countless times. And sometimes you can't work around it. But we'll share a few tips that will help...[img_assist|nid=507|title=Dickcissel portrait on twig|desc=|link=popup|align=center|width=400|height=600]The first and simplest tip for getting a bird's feet in the frame is simply to allow room for them. That may mean shooting vertical, but whether you shoot vertical or horizontal you'll need to be aware of the shape of the bird and how large it will be on the perch you're watching. With a simple twig perch like this one its a fairly easy process to make sure that the bottom of your frame includes the twig. With long-legged shorebirds or birds which strike many different poses it can take a lot more practice.For longer legged water birds there is another wrinkle. If their feet are underwater then often the best you can do is allow room at the bottom of the frame for the length of their legs and feet even if they invisible. Not everyone agrees this is necessary so you can experiment and decide what you like but you should at least be aware of the option.[img_assist|nid=508|title=Dickcissel Looking but with Feet Hidden|desc=|link=popup|align=center|width=600|height=400]More typically the issue is foreground objects blocking your view of the feet. If you are designing your own setting you can take steps to help prevent that. Place your perch above or behind at least some of your birdseed or watering hole. It's tempting to want to place all your seed out of sight behind logs, but then most of your birds will be just as hidden. A good compromise is placing feed in small holes in your wood or in other small dishes or bowls near where you want the birds to perch. Remember that with a telephoto lens you're only going to see a small part of the scene so it is okay to have seed on the ground if you're not going to photograph the ground, etc.If you'd like to learn more about the right way to set up scenes for your bird photography there's still time to join us for one of our April Texas photo safaris, either the Rio Grande Valley Private Ranch (winning ICF ranches featured) Photo Safari or our Hill Country Private Ranch Photo Safari. We customize each blind each shoot as well as setting up professional macro scenes for small reptiles, all the while giving you the benefit of the experience of the local award-winnign photo guides and our own on the best way to ensure great shots.Similarly if you are photographing a bird coming towards you on level ground (like we often are from the Texas blinds) then watch not just the bird's eye but for when the feet are on a high spot on the ground and can be seen. If you can't time that quite right or the bird refuses to cooperate then capture your image during a step so that at least one foot is visible, like in this image of a Bobwhite from the Rio Grande Valley.[img_assist|nid=509|title=Bobwhite Caught Mid-step|desc=|link=popup|align=center|width=400|height=600]If you're photographing birds (or even mammals) in an uncontrolled setting look for openings in the grass or foliage and anticipate. Rather than stay and get more photographs of a partially hidden animal go ahead and try to set up the shot you really want. It might mean moving away and waiting (and hoping) for the animal to move a certain direction. If they do, you're a winner. If not all you've lost is more photographs that aren't quite the ones you wanted.If you're in a vehicle on safari part of the job of the photo lead and guide is to get you to a spot where the animal will come clear from the foliage. It's something we work hard on during our Africa Photo Safaris and helps our clients get really outstanding images instead of just animal snapshots. A classic technique is placing the vehicle on the other side of a log from a leopard on the prowl. It always results in some groans from safari participants as they worry when we can't see much of the leopard for awhile. But when the magic happens and the animal comes up on the log--which doesn't always happen, but it does enough to make it worthwhile--we can get shots like the one below of a female leopard examing our truck.[img_assist|nid=510|title=Female Leopard Examining our Safari Truck|desc=|link=popup|align=center|width=400|height=600]So when you're out in the field and think you've got everything under control remember to look for the feet!--David Cardinal