EVER TRIED to get pictures of all those cute things your bird does, only to end up with out-of-focus, oddly-lit, or funny-looking shots?

COLORFUL PARROTS are natural photography subjects. (Chattering lory by Carla Thornton.)

Even professionals face challenges when it comes to photographing parrots. Many of those beautiful shots you see in magazines are not the result of just one person with a camera. There's usually a helper, called a bird wrangler, on the set to work with the bird so that it strikes those wonderful poses.

That's great for magazine projects, but what if you don't have a bird wrangler hanging around your house?

Don't worry, there are still things you can do to maximize your chances of getting great pictures. And you don't need fancy equipment, either. Digital cameras, manually focused models, and even those inexpensive disposable cameras can produce great pictures of your feathered buddy. All it takes is a little planning, a little luck, and a willing subject.

One way to avoid having bars come between you and a good picture is to simply open the cage door. Nice shots can be gotten of parrots dining on their favorite foods, playing with toys, hanging upside down from the cage top or bathing.

IN-CAGE SHOTS are not ideal, but you can get a sharp photo if you're careful. (Blue-crown conure by Anne C. Watkins.)

If opening the door is not possible you will be stuck with the bars, but all is not lost. Good closeups are possible if the bird is next to the bars because the camera will be able to focus on both bird and cage. But if he is mid-cage, guess what? You're going to end up with a very good picture of . . . the cage bars.

Move far enough away so that you do not get sharp bars and a blurry bird. Find your bird in the viewfinder, wait until it strikes a cute pose, and click away. The cage bars will still be in the picture, but your main focus will be the bird.

Whatever type of shot you decide to try, first make sure the cage is spotless. Any tidbit of debris will photograph perfectly. Scrub food or poop away, and wipe down the food and water cups. Remove any toys, perches, or cups that will obscure your view of the bird. (You can put them back later.)

USE PROPS. Want a fun, easy way to add character to your pictures? Use props!

A few things to consider are favorite birdie toys or food items such as carrot sticks, apple chunks, or teaspoons of peanut butter. You might try tiny paper hats or paper umbrellas, small stuffed animals, or anything else your bird enjoys clowning around with. As long as they are compatible, you might even use a second bird. Give your model time to get comfortable and to begin interacting with the prop. Have your camera ready – a playful bird is a great subject.

An important note: Introduce your parrot to any new or unfamiliar props beforehand. Don't try to force your bird to pose with anything that scares it, or that it has never seen before. An uncomfortable bird is an uncooperative bird. And you might get a nasty nip out of the deal, too.

Avoid clutter but don't rule out familiar objects for scale. (Black-cheek zebra finch by Ed Partis.)

Study the area in which you will be shooting and remove things such as knickknacks, magazines, newspapers, coffee cups and items of clothing. Be sure you do this before you start.

When framing your shot check one last time through the viewfinder to make sure no unwanted background objects have crept into the picture. Nothing is worse than having a perfect shot spoiled by Uncle Frank's crumpled-up dirty socks in the background or a strange-looking object growing out of your bird's head.

PAY ATTENTION TO LIGHTING. A good balance of lighting is important for clear pictures. Too much nearby light will wash out the picture, so you may have to pull the curtains or dim a lamp. Too little light will result in an overly dark or blurry shot.

Use your flash appropriately. Most cameras have automatic flashes for low light. However, you will still need to make sure you are close enough to your subject for the flash to do its job. Try to be within a few feet when you take the picture. Too many shadowy areas result in murky pictures, and you want your parrot's beautiful, iridescent colors to glow, not fade into the background. Also be sure to check that there aren't any shiny, reflective surfaces nearby that will bounce the flash.

PREENING BIRDS often strike cute poses. (Blue-and-gold macaw by Carla Thornton.)

If you have lots of natural light in your home, it may be possible to take indoor pictures without a harsh flash. A bright, evenly lit room can result in beautiful shots of your bird. Depending on your camera, pressing the shutter halfway down should trigger a warning light telling you whether you'll need the flash.

Thinking of grabbing some shots of your bird outside? Parrots look great in natural, leafy settings. Two quick rules for shooting outdoors: first, make sure your bird is safe! Never leave him sitting alone outside, even if his wings are clipped. He can quickly wander off or be attacked by other animals such as hawks. Always have complete control over your bird; an enclosed aviary is best.

Rule number two: on bright days avoid photographing your bird in full or partial shadow. The shaded part of his body will come out too dark.

PHOTOGRAPH A FAVORITE ACTIVITY. If your bird is a water baby, take pictures of it bathing. What's cuter than a matted-up, wet, green chicken? Just be careful to keep your equipment out of the reach of any splashes.

A BIRD ENJOYING itself makes for a great photo. (Double-yellow-head Amazon by Paul and Michele Belo of Burlingame, Calif.)

Preening sessions are fun to snap, too. Catch your parrot contorting its body to get to those hard-to-reach spots.

If you are lucky enough to have birds that will groom each other, get ready to click that shutter when the preening gets serious.

GET SHARP, CLEAR CLOSEUPS. Depending upon your equipment, you have several options that will help you obtain nice close-up shots of your parrot. Check to see what features your camera comes with, then experiment with them.

Some type of zoom capability or closeup lens is helpful for extremely tight shots, but if your camera doesn't have those options, try this: get close to your subject, but not so close that it is blurry in your viewfinder. Try to fill as much of the viewfinder as possible with your bird, hold the camera steady, then snap. This is a handy way to get tight shots with less expensive equipment.

Don't worry if your first attempts result in out-of-focus shots. Just work with it a bit and you will soon figure out how to get fairly clear close-ups. As long as you don't expect these pictures to be of the same quality of those taken with special equipment, you won't be disappointed.

Those more serious about their closeup photography may want to consider investing in a camera capable of focusing to within a few inches of the subject.

USE A TRIPOD. Nothing is more disappointing than an otherwise great picture ruined by blur. But waiting for your parrot to strike the perfect pose can be rough when you're trying to hold a camera steady.

Using a tripod eliminates the shake, gives your arms and neck a rest, and keeps the camera level and secure.

Of course, you still have to worry that your bird will step just outside your range to do something really cute. Here's where Tip #8 comes in handy.

USE A HELPER. Recruit someone to be your own personal bird wrangler. Choose a person your bird likes and is comfortable with, then decide what it is you'll need your helper to do.

CLOSEUPS CAPTURE the uniqueness of parrots, including their eyes and feather patterns. (Nikon Coolpix 990 in macro mode. Blue-and-gold macaw by Carla Thornton.)

He or she may wave treats just out of the bird's reach to coax it to lean or stretch. Your helper might sing silly songs or make funny noises to get the bird's attention, or may try to encourage the bird to sing along.

Some birds love to dance and will respond by performing a few fancy steps. And of course, your wrangler can retrieve and return feathered models that decide to hop off the perch or move away from your desired background.

Helpers can also fetch equipment for you, refresh your drink, or pose with the bird. Just be sure to say "thanks" when you're finished!

TAKE LOTS (AND LOTS) OF PICTURES. How many times have you taken the "perfect" shot only to discover later it was a dud?

What often separates the frustrated photographer from a successful one is persistence - pros know that the more pictures they take, the greater the likelihood that at least one or two will turn out perfect, with just the right pose and lighting.

Here's where a digital camera really comes in handy. With a standard analog camera, you have to worry about using too much film and how much it's going to cost to process. No wonder we tend to be miserly with our bird pictures; no one wants to pay a $50 lab fee!

With a digital camera, the sky's the limit. Take lots of pictures, chuck the bad ones you see in the monitor to free up more space on your memory card, then keep right on shooting.

When you've filled your memory card just transfer off the photos and wipe the card clean for your next photo session. No more constantly running out of film!

BLACK-AND-WHITE portraits can be striking, too. (Blue-and-gold macaw by Carla Thornton.)

Just keep in mind that the camera's monitor brightens all photos, so some that look perfectly exposed actually may be quite a bit darker. You can still check focus, though, especially if your digital camera is capable of zooming into captured shots.

LET YOUR BIRD GUIDE THE SESSION. Some birds love to ham it up for the camera while others shy away from that strange looking box being pointed at them. Sometimes nervous birds can be coaxed to pose with a favorite family member, or after they see another bird happily having its picture taken.

But if your bird seems unhappy, uneasy, or scared, stop the photo session. Trying to force a parrot to sit for pictures when it doesn't want to won't work. All you'll wind up with are out-of-focus pictures and an annoyed bird. And you'll feel stressed, too. Remember, you want your bird to have fun and feel comfortable in front of the lens. Respect your bird; you don't like being forced to do things you find unpleasant, so don't expect your parrot to just "deal with it," either.

Sometimes a break may be all your bird needs. If you're snapping candid shots that don't need to be posed, shoot to your heart's content. But if you're working through a planned photo session and are asking your bird to pose or perform, be prepared to let it rest periodically. Scheduled stops for snacks, potty breaks, and sips of water will refresh your model, and make the session more enjoyable for everyone.

Pictures, pictures, pictures!
You've got your shots. Now comes the fun part – deciding what to do with them!

With all the options now available, your pictures no longer have to be relegated to stationary photo albums. If you have a digital camera, you can load your pictures directly into your computer, or print them out. You can even perform magic and transform any not-so-great shots into fun, original art projects. If you aren't digital, you can use a scanner to transfer the pictures to your computer or order photos on CD or diskette.

Scanners and digital cameras come with software that allow you to do all sorts of interesting things with your pictures. You can insert your parrot's photo into a jungle setting, a birthday party, or maybe even a movie scene.

The programs allow you to crop out things that spoil otherwise nice shots (like Uncle Frank's socks). You can resize the pictures and incorporate them into address labels, greeting cards, or other items. Wonder what your photo would look like in black and white? Special effects are just a click of the mouse away.

Holiday cards featuring your feathered family members can be printed out on special greeting card papers, which are available in office supply stores. There are even tee-shirt transfers that you can use to create wearable, full-color photos of your favorite winged creature.

For even more photo editing tools than bundled software offers, consider purchasing a standalone package such as the starter edition of Adobe Photoshop.

Parrots onscreen
Would you like to see your parrot's cute little face every time you turn on the computer? It's easier than you may think.

In most cases, saving a photo as wallpaper is as simple as opening the picture in your computer, right clicking on the image, then scrolling down the list of choices until you see the "set as desktop background" option (some systems may word it differently). Left click on the option and the picture should appear on your desktop.

GIVE BIRD PHOTOS a drawing or painting effect by applying a filter such as Photoshop's "fresco".

Now, right click on the desktop picture, select "properties," and then the desktop tab. Here is where you can choose whether to center the photo, stretch it to completely fill the screen, or tile it to cover the desktop with small copies.

Better yet, how about using your best birdie photos as screen savers? In Windows just copy the photos into the My Pictures folder, which is located inside the My Documents folder. Then take a break from your work, sit back, and watch your favorite bird photos displayed on a big screen.

Watch the birdie!
Even if you aren't a professional photographer, it's possible to take wonderful pictures of your favorite feathered friend. Just remember these tips: plan ahead, take notice of everything that will appear in the frame, choose appropriate props, check the lighting, and start with a happy, relaxed bird. Before long you'll have lots of great shots!

Anne Culbreath Watkins is the author of The Conure Handbook published by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. and is a frequent contributor to Pet Age Magazine. Seventeen-year-old blue-crowned conure Rio and 20-something-year-old orange-wing Amazon Pancho rule the Watkins roost.