Birds in Flight Suggestions... About This Page:

[LizardCop]

Originally Posted by oldmom

incredible. birds in flight are hard to get really good ones. its actually a class assignment for the photo class at the college.

Catching acceptable pictures of birds in flight is very difficult, especially in the wild. Here are some of the techniques I use.

1. Learn your birds. Study their patterns and habits. Many birds, especially prey types, are like humans, predictable and consistent.

2. Know what the bird is doing. Is it looking for food, sitting on a nest, sitting on eggs? How the bird will react depends on the answers to these questions.

3. If the bird is searching for food or sitting on a nest with no eggs, you can slowly approach the tree/roost the bird is on while taking pictures. The bird will see you coming, and look at you. Keep in mind, you are now a possible threat and the bird is evaluating that threat. Once it realizes you aren't going to be a danger to it, it usually goes back to what it was doing. I always try to approach the birds from their front. If the bird becomes uncomfortable or feels the need to flee, it will fly forward, towards you.

I usually remember to set my camera into aperture priority and set the F stop to F8 or F11. This gives you a greater depth of field, that distance where everything will be in focus. For example, with the F stop set at F4, the bird may only be in focus from 20 to 30 feet, where at F8 or F11 it could be in focus from 15 to 40 feet. By setting the camera to shutter priority the camera is pretty much set to shoot with minimal lag time.

I always try to pre-focus (or set to manual focus) so the camera won't spend time focusing. To do this, find an object in the flight path, or focus on the tree itself (like on a limb closer to you than the bird.) With most point and shoot cameras, you can press the shutter button half way down and it will focus. By keeping the button half way pressed, it holds that focus until you take the picture. If your camera has the option to lock the exposure information (AEL), you can set and use these to minimize lag time, everything is locked in and the camera will take the picture as fast as you can press the button.

If you're learning to shoot birds, use the multiple shutter release setting on your camera. Most cameras have a setting to shoot 2 or 3 or more pictures as long as you hold the shutter button down. Just point the camera at the bird as it starts flying and hold the shutter button down. I don't normally do this, my camera is a DSLR and shoots as fast as I push the shutter with everything preset.

4. If the bird is setting on eggs, or there are chicks in the nest, keep your distance. Use a long lens or an adapter to get your pictures far enough away so you don't disturb them. If they are sitting on eggs, coming off the nest to chase you away affects them hatching, not to mention stressing the sitter. The same goes for chicks in the nest, the parent is more apt to come after you as a threat, hurting themselves or you.

If you don't want to tromp through the woods to get to them, consider buying a good telescope or spotting scope and an adapter so you can connect your camera to it. You can get great pictures from hundreds of feet away...

This technique also works for ground birds. The only difference is that I have found I can get closer to the birds by moving very slowly and NOT looking at them. Looking at them gets their attention and they get nervous and skittish. By looking everywhere else, they seem to stay settled longer. If you're using a point and shoot camera, use the view screen to look at them without turning your head to look a them.

Those are some of my techniques, anyone else got any?

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for the tips Bill!!

[Cam22]

I've never taken a picture of a bird, but I've always admired other folks photos of them. so much for the tips because now I've got a starting point.

Do you have any idea how to take hummingbird photos? My Dad has a feeder and he has tried to get pictures of them, but none have been good.

[Cam22]

I've never taken a picture of a bird, but I've always admired other folks photos of them. so much for the tips because now I've got a starting point.

Do you have any idea how to take hummingbird photos? My Dad has a feeder and he has tried to get pictures of them, but none have been good.

[chezp]

Thanks for sharing those tips.

[Dave Marx]

Great tips, Bill!

Stefanie, the best hummingbird shots require some special equipment, including a tripod, powerful flash, and an automatic trigger/"electric eye," so when the bird flies into the shot (which has already been set-up), the camera automatically pops. A powerful "outboard" flash can put out a lot more light than the typical built-in flash, which means the duration of the flash will be shorter, and do a better job of freezing the action. A remote shutter release (or cable release) is a reasonable substitute for an automatic trigger. The camera ought to be set for a high aperture to get good depth of field. The flash setting on the camera should be set to always flash - you need the extra light in almost every case.

Now, one can do it without the automatic trigger, but since waiting for hummingbirds takes patience, it really pays to:

A) Set up the shot on a tripod (a hummingbird feeder is usually used as the lure to bring the bird to where you want it). Don't try to follow or re-compose when a bird comes by - let the bird come to you. After a few shots, you could then move the camera/tripod to a different angle. Memorize the view through the viewfinder, so you know when the bird is "in frame" even without looking through the viewfinder.

B) Use some sort of remote shutter release or cable release. Since the shot has been pre-composed, you can sit back in the chair with the remote in hand, and just wait for the hummingbird to show up, without squinting through the viewfinder all the time. Also, any time you use a remote/cable release, you reduce/eliminate the possibility of shaking/jerking the camera when you press the shutter.

C) As Bill already noted, set the meter to Aperture Priority and choose a high F-stop.

D) If the camera normally would "go to sleep" after a while, see if you can change the sleep setting so you don't miss a shot when it shuts down (you will need to replace batteries more often, of course).

E) Use Manual Focus - since the shot is framed in advance, when you set it up just put some object in the same position intended for the bird, and focus on that. Take some test shots on the "dummy" to be sure exposure, focus, etc. is correct. Manual Focus allows the camera to shoot faster (Also, a lot of auto-focus systems have a hard time locking-in focus on a moving subject, so if the camera was left set on auto-focus, those beating wings may make getting any shot near-impossible.)

There's always more that can be done, but this is probably enough to get him over the hump.

[Cam22]

Thanks so much, Dave! Looks like I have some ideas for presents for Father's Day and Christmas, so he has equipment that could help. The hummingbirds are really so interesting to watch.

[LizardCop]

Dave hit all of the good stuff for hummers.

The only thing I'll add is my method for hummers. I usually have two feeders, one that I can see out the front window and one out back. I set the one out back up so that I can watch it unobserved by them. It's close enough to a clear window that I can zoom in on it and preset the focus. I also usually place a piece of camouflaged netting in front of the camera and me, leaving a small section open for the lens to stick through.

When I see them feeding out front, I head out back. Then it's just a waiting game, and when they do come near the back one, I shoot like a madman, taking lots of pictures real fast. They don't stay at the feeder long, but they keep coming back.

I've been lucky the past couple of years in that we tend to have 2 or 3 pairs of hummers, so I can stay steady. That is until the males decide to start a territory way, then they fly all over the place. It's amusing watching them fly up into a tree, sit and wait to ambush another male on the feeder...

[Cam22]

I'm pretty sure Daddy has some camo netting already. He is retire from the army and always surprises me with the supplies he has on hand. He's never mentioned territory wars, but I know he gets so much enjoyment out of watching them. for the tips! I'll be visiting him tomorrow and I'll pass this all along to him.