Get Snapping!

Julie Moore has some tips on how to have fun photographing your chickens

- Julie Moore

Having vision and shooting with intention is a great approach to consistent, successful photography. However, it can lead to boredom, so make ‘fun’ the priority and you may be surprised by the results.

So, whenever you’re in the mood for fun, sling your camera over your shoulder and visit your flock without any immediate agenda. You may not take any photographs, but the fun bit is not having any expectations. Instead, explore opportunities, observe your hens and the world around you or identify your artistic voice through photography.

TIME TO OBSERVE

There are many reasons why hen keepers should photograph their flock. Firstly, you’ll be spending time amongst your flock, observing their behaviours and learning their individual characters. You’ll learn what ‘normal’ behaviour for your flock is and will be alerted if something is not right amongst them. By observing your flock, you’ll know them better than anyone else, which is particularly useful in times of illness. Time relaxing around your hens can also be an important opportunity for your hens to understand and connect with you.

Simply observing can also give inspiration for names. For example, Pingu, my current chief rooster, was so named because when he hatched, he looked and walked like a penguin. One little rooster hatched with a permanently ‘bent’ tail, thus lopsided, he became known as Loperty!

KEEPING A RECORD

Photographs serve as a record of development, from hatch or the day your girls arrive through to adulthood. This means that you know the exact age of your old rooster. Likewise, you can visually record the healing of injuries. During my first experience of a foot staph infection, I sent photographs via e-mail to a veterinarian who favoured poultry and I received valuable advice.