where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Thought about starting a thread having to do with technique instead of equipment, so here goes : contribute your favourite tip/technique for photographing birds, in flight and at rest.
Also what equipment do you prefer to use, camera and lens, TCs etc.
I think a lot of people shoot birds [pun intended] and the collective experience of members would help others.
i prefer dx for birds. i use my 300 and 2x tc, but i still need to get within 5m to get a decent shot of anything smaller than a crow. preferably closer.
we will see if i can get some good eagle shots when i go to lake biwa in march.
patience, patience and one more time patience... as for the rest:
- gimbal style head = wimberley or jobu design
- prepare for cold, I went yesterday and the temp outside was -7 celsius, I was seating on a concrete for 30min, was wearing down jacket, gloves and hat, and still couldn't fell my face and hands
- as for the equipment: in good light situation DX is the way to go, however once the lighting conditions are not perfect FX wins - iso1250 is the max usable on d300s (in some situations iso1600) while at the same time, I easily go to iso6400 on d3s
- try to study animals behavior = google or simply observe
- be patient :)
- if You have the opportunity try to visit same spot during different times of the day and year
For the best shot just pay them.. they will then pose for you and stand where you want them to...
ok seriously now... :-)
I don't do much bird photography.. would love to do more but it does take time and patience and I do enjoy it a lot. I find observation of behaviour patterns and moving slowly helps a lot. Its amazing how close you can get by just being patient and moving slowly. I dont have long glass.. but I make do with my 150 F2.8 (yeah that lens again! hehe!) and a TC1.4. on DX. I shoot mainly hand held. maybe one day I will get a 80-400 VR lens than I can get a closer shot! :-)
This one taken with my 18-200 (before I had my 150 ;-) (love the high DR of my fuji s5 pro. This one taken just past mid day! )
I'd say practice with local, tame birds (think pigeons and seagulls) before going out to the wild, so you have all your technique down before spending lots of time and money in the wild. Putting in a bird feeder in your backyard or in an area you can clearly see from where you live can help get you some practice opportunities.
adamz is dead on, although I do kind of disagree about ISO1250 being max for the D300. In the right kind of light ISO3200 is perfectly acceptable, like this image.
Being in the right place at the right time is the name of the game with bird photography, and like any other photography having good light helps too! Sometimes I'll watch one bird for an hour or more just trying to get the kind of shot that I want.
oh PBPM s shots reminded me. a flash with a "better beamer" has been recommended by my birdy friends as well. but I dont do enough birding to get one of those. however the new SB900 has a tele function probably enough so you dont need the beamer any more. oh and why? see the catch lights in the eyes? also tames the normally harsh lights these feathery friends stand in(;-) unless you have a high DR camera of course).
Adamz Thanks for the good tips. What's the primary reason for using a gimbal head? Do you wear camouflage jacket or use a blind?
You can use whatever you have handy, if you get creative to compensate.
True story: I was out one Sunday getting lunch (and a big old martini). Leaving the restaurant, which was on a pier, I pulled my camera out to take some photos of my daughter. A man saw my camera, walked up to me, and commissioned me to take sea gull shots for his new business. I had my D7000 and a 50 1.4G and that's all. I needed the birds pretty darn close. My wife thought of a solution--she started throwing rice from our lunch leftovers and I stood among the birds and took shots.
Wow, anjz, nicely done. That's quite lucky of you.
I know nothing about birding, so I personally would use the fastest and longest lens possible.
And on Heartyfisher- Moose Peterson set up a bird feeder on his porch and he uses flashes for his birding. He sets up his 600 f/4 in his office and shoots from his chair.
Excellent way to sit down all day, I'd imagine. :D
LOL yeah I did say paying them works! heh!.
anjz said:
A man saw my camera, walked up to me, and commissioned me to take sea gull shots for his new business. I had my D7000 and a 50 1.4G and that's all.
Very impressive shots, Anjz! Shots #1, #3, #4 are amazing. Incredible lighting, spot-on exposure, and great-looking skies. The motion-blur on #4 is perfect. The angles are simply the best!
AF Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Samples:
As Anjz has shown above, you don't necessarily need a zillion-millimeter lens to get great shots (well, at least of plentiful and easy-to-bait seagulls, anyway). Although, I'm by no means an experienced bird photographer, I thought I'd post a couple of thoughts anyway.
I went out by the ocean to shoot some gulls last year to try out my then, new, AF 80-400mm lens. Even with a 400mm lens on a DX body, those damn birds are still really far away. But since my chosen location was at a tide pool, I was able to wade out to them and shoot them pretty close-up. Though not necessarily specific to birds, here's all I could think of to suggest:
1. If shooting water foul, pay attention to what's reflected in the water. The prettier the sky and your surroundings, the prettier the water.
2. Try to shoot with clouds in the sky. Images of birds in-flight with a dramatic, cloud-filled sky often look a lot prettier than with a solid white-gray sky for a background.
Both images below were taken at the exact same location, at about the same time of day, but a couple weeks apart. I wanted to show these to illustrate the dramatic differences in results due to changing lighting and weather conditions. The first day I shot was a sunny day, but there were no clouds in the sky whatsoever. Nevertheless, at least the sky was blue, and both the warm, earth-colored cliffs nearby, and the blue sky above, made for a very colorful reflection:
Nikon D90
AF Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.6-5.6G VR
[Uncorrected image]
The second time I went out, it was overcast and gray (it was actually raining)--every shot lacked contrast and was virtually completely void of color. You'll notice that the dull, white-gray, featureless sky was faithfully reflected in the water, with similarly dull-looking results:
Nikon D90
AF Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.6-5.6G VR
[Uncorrected image]
Oh, I forgot to answer the most-asked question about the 80-400mm: "Is the 80-400mm's non-AFS focusing too slow for shooting birds in-flight?" Yes! But, if you pre-focus, and track accurately, it can certainly be done. However, framing accurately, way out at 400mm (600mm-equivalent on DX), without the benefit of a gimbal head, is actually probably the greater challenge. It's even more of a challenge when the VR "re-adjusts" your frame for you!
Now why doesn't anyone ever commission me to shoot seagulls? I like that last one, Andrew.
I noticed that shooting at 400mm on a DX body, the reciprocal rule doesn't necessarily always lead to razor-sharp images of birds in flight, even at fairly high shutter speeds (above the lens' reciprocal value). What shutter speeds do you guys usually use to freeze birds in-flight using lenses in the 400mm range (assuming I'm not shooting with a gimbal head)?
anyone have an idea as to what shutter speed i should try to get a Peregrine Falcon, in its dive? I live near Indianapolis, and every spring, the "baby" falcons jump from the tallest building. They tend to hit close to 200mph;320km/h in these dives.
tips and or suggestions? I might be crazy to even want to try. I have seen other photos, and they almost never come out well. The big problem seems to be related to less light and the dark shadows of the tall city buildings.
Studio:
Yes, the reciprocal rule commonly does not work for beating wings but will for a gliding bird. I commonly use <1/800 of a second to get the wings to stop.
heartyfisher said:
oh PBPM s shots reminded me. a flash with a "better beamer" has been recommended by my birdy friends as well. but I dont do enough birding to get one of those. however the new SB900 has a tele function probably enough so you dont need the beamer any more. oh and why? see the catch lights in the eyes? also tames the normally harsh lights these feathery friends stand in(;-) unless you have a high DR camera of course).
It's kind of funny you mention flash, because that catch light in both those shots is natural sunlight. I hate using flash with birds, it scares them away more often than not! This is especially true with owls during the day, not only because it scares them, but it can mess up their sleeping pattern, which could end up killing them!
As for those on questions about shutter speeds for birds in flight, I like to shoot at around 1/1000s or higher if at all possible.
WaterEngineer said:
Studio:Yes, the reciprocal rule commonly does not work for beating wings but will for a gliding bird. I commonly use <1/800 of a second to get the wings to stop.
Thanks!
PB PM said:
As for those on questions about shutter speeds for birds in flight, I like to shoot at around 1/1000s or higher if at all possible.
Thanks!
About your photography, PB PM, you always manage to capture razor-sharp images, of a variety of species, fairly close-up. I'm sure you've mentioned this before, but what are you shooting with? Are you DX or FX? Are you doing the 300mm f/4 teleconverter trick, or do you have longer lenses as well? And what are you using for support?
Michael DeRose said:
anyone have an idea as to what shutter speed i should try to get a Peregrine Falcon, in its dive? I live near Indianapolis, and every spring, the "baby" falcons jump from the tallest building. They tend to hit close to 200mph;320km/h in these dives.tips and or suggestions? I might be crazy to even want to try. I have seen other photos, and they almost never come out well. The big problem seems to be related to less light and the dark shadows of the tall city buildings.
It depends on your ability to keep the relative movement between the bird and the camera to a minimum so you need to work on your panning technique. I once shot a whole motorcycle race with a 200mm at 1/60 sec on film. 90% of them were usable back then, but I'm not so steady now.
With your VR set to 'active' maybe (if you have it), I would say your biggest problem is getting close enough for the shots to be interesting.
Have you tried any shots yet?
spraynpray said:
It depends on your ability to keep the relative movement between the bird and the camera to a minimum so you need to work on your panning technique.
Precisely.
I shot those only handheld or with a monopod. A gimbal- or fluid-head would greatly assist in more accurate tracking, resulting in less subject motion-blur.
studio460 said:
About your photography, PB PM, you always manage to capture razor-sharp images, of a variety of species, fairly close-up. I'm sure you've mentioned this before, but what are you shooting with? Are you DX or FX? Are you doing the 300mm f/4 teleconverter trick, or do you have longer lenses as well? And what are you using for support?
My only telephoto lens is the AF-S 300mm F4D, and I attach a TC14E (older IF version) to that to get more reach. My primary camera body is a D300 + MB-D10 so that I can shoot at 8FPS. I am hoping to move to FX this year for better low light performance though, because the environments I shoot in often force me to shoot at high ISO (1600+) in the winter.
I'm in the strange position of being able to afford an FX body, but not high end telephoto glass, it's just too expensive, even an upgrade to the 300mm f2.8VRII would be a huge strain on my budget. I've thought about getting a Bigma for more reach, and flexibility, but I don't want to give up the sharpness of the 300mm F4 + 1.4X TC. I've shot with the same combo on film and it was okay, so FX is fine, I'd just have to crop a little more.
As for the tripod, Manfrotto 055XPROB and my ballhead is the Manfrotto 486RC2. I am thinking about getting a gimbal head though, because the quick release plate on the 486RC2 shifts around too much.
Funduro said:
Adamz Thanks for the good tips. What's the primary reason for using a gimbal head? Do you wear camouflage jacket or use a blind?
I'm not a birder, but birding is quite similar to wildlife/animal photography. So most cases I don't wear any camouflage, but I try to keep cloths that match with the environment colors.
as for gimbal, the easiest way to show what gimbal is will be to link a picture:
picture taken from B&H, shows Jobu Design BWG-J3K (the cheapest qimbal I would recommend to anyone)
as You can see You put Your lens in the center, which is the center of gravity = You don't feel the weight and You can easily move even the most heavy lenses+body combinations
All good stuff. Would any of you good bird guys care to share what settings you use for AF and exposure metering?
studio460 said:
I noticed that shooting at 400mm on a DX body, the reciprocal rule doesn't necessarily always lead to razor-sharp images of birds in flight, even at fairly high shutter speeds (above the lens' reciprocal value). What shutter speeds do you guys usually use to freeze birds in-flight using lenses in the 400mm range (assuming I'm not shooting with a gimbal head)?
on dx You should use at least 1/600, but to fell comfy I wouldn't go below 1/1000
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