Birds in Flight Practice

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
It seems our last few weeks have been a non-stop blur of activity around our place here in Cedar Key Florida. I was jonesing to get some time behind the camera but we're too busy right now to take a day off and head out on the water. Although we've both promised one another that we're going to try and make that become a weekly thing.

A motel guest had checked out and left a bag full of crackers, bread and various chips to be thrown away. Rather than just toss them in the garbage, we usually pitch the food off the end of the dock so the birds and fish have something to eat.

I figured I could take a few minutes away from work and get some images out on the dock. The morning sun was perfectly positioned behind my back to provide really good lighting, so I asked Cindy to be the thrower while I'd take 25 minutes to fire off a few photos. Just to quench that thirst for some new photos to look at.

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Plus, it keeps me sharp and allows me to practice on moving objects and trying to follow something that is flying at a high rate of speed. This is much harder than one might think it is.

This is one of those secessions almost anyone can sit in their back yard, the beach or in the park and accomplish. You don't need any special equipment and you certainly don't need a high powered zoom, just an assistant to toss the bread or crackers and you need to know what settings to have your camera set to so you'll get keepers.

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I had my camera set so the shutter speed was very high (1/4000th of a second), a mid-length depth of field (f/5 so the entire bird would be in focus, but the background would be somewhat blurred) and the camera itself was set in the Al Servo Focus mode. This mode allows the lens to maintain a focus on a moving subject. That's the trickiest part of this type of secession. If the bird happens to land, the focus will usually shift to something in the background or the water moving behind the main subject.

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You'll need enough light to be able to set your cameras shutter speed to something really high; most of these were shot at 1/4000th of a second, so it stops the wings completely without any blur. This is why the low angle of the sun at my back, it was early morning (10am) worked out perfect for these shots because it put the birds just above my head, but the sun lit the underside of the wings so I didn't have any harsh shadows and there was no need to use a flash which will sometimes scare the birds when taking photos at a close range.

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The only thing you need to be sure of is to keep the sun at your back, and you'll be golden. I also liked that there were some soft clouds in the background rather than just a solid blue sky. I think this helps make the Gulls pop out of the image, but I'd like to know what you think?

Something else Cindy and I learned is if she holds the food up in her hand right beside the camera, you'll get the birds flying directly at the front of the lens. When they get really close, almost too close to focus, she'll toss it up above my head so I can follow the flight path while the wings are flapping.

Word to the Wise: Put a hat on so you don't get poop in your head or hair...LOL Not that this happened, but Cindy kept saying "You know I love you if I'm willing to sit here risking these birds pooping on my head just so you can get some practice."
 

taco2go

Explorer
Amazing, Pat. Given the number of incredible bird shots you post, you should seriously consider doing a "Big Year" :)
 

taco2go

Explorer
Big Year
See movie and book of the same name.....:)

I forgot to mention it earlier, but thanks for the valuable practical tips you provided as well. You guys share some great advice that stems purely from your own experience.
 

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Thanks for the link! Never heard of that before as birding is still somewhat new to me, and one of things I strictly picked up because of how available they are to our lenses.

Sort of like you and Tom and those beautiful images of the Superior coastline :drool:
 

Clark White

Explorer
I had nothing else to do today while waiting for my Mom to scan and e-mail my W-2 (doing taxes on a beach in Costa Rica sucks, I not sure if it's worse then my living room or not) so I decided to try some more humming bird photo's since the light was just right. I think when I get back to the states I am going to get a feeder and try some more, but I will only have one flower for them to drink from, and have the feeder tied down so it doesn't move so much. The problem is they are so skittish that if I sit there and hold the camera the movement scares them away, so I have to have it on a tripod w/remote. Doing that I have to use manual focus since they are not always at the same focus point, and catching them on just the right plane with only f5 can be rather tricky.

Pat, how did you get 1/4000 shutter? I was at ISO640 (getting fairly noisy for my camera) and f5 with full sunlight on the birds and I was only able to get 1/2000 shutter speed.

These are essentially 100% crops. Another down side of having the feeder moving about with the wind and the camera mounted on the tripod is that I have to be zoomed out a bit so they are not cut off.













 

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Nice shots Clark, I've sat for hours practicing with humming birds coming to a feeder like this.

Amazing how fast they are and how long their tongue's are!

I think I had a lot more light than you did which allowed my shutter speed to be up higher.

Try popping a flash next time and see if it stops the wing movement completely. I've tried both and it just depends what the background is like. Sometimes the flash will black out the background completely

Oh, and thanks for rubbing in the tax situation :)
 

Clark White

Explorer
Flash occurred to me, but not until I was already sitting there trying not to move. Next time though! I love trying to shoot these guys though, they are so tiny and graceful, and amazingly fast and precise!

As for the Tax thing, I guess doing it on the beach down here is better then not, but it's still a pretty crapy way to spend any part of my vacation!!!

Clark
 

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Spent a few minutes practicing yesterday. I sort of like having a few minutes each day of trying to follow them and I think they like it too :D

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Tail Wind - I like that the wind was blowing the feathers backwards on this shot -​

Setting are pretty much the same for all the shots
Canon 5D with a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens - ISO 400, f/5.6 @ 1/4000th of a sec


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Showing off for the camera


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Underside of a Gull​
 

HumphreyBear

Adventurer
I just love the "Showing off for the camera" shot, it really looks like the gull is taking a curtain call after a successful show in the West End. Great shot!

A few of mine as it looks like you don't mind others playing in this thread! :)

The rare four-winged Bolivian wood-duck flying in contra-wing mode... ;)
View attachment 87114

A slow pan with a monopod helped catch these flamingos on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (Bolivians please forgive the titling error on the picture!):
View attachment 87115

This condor soared (glid/glode/glided?) over a mountain saddle, down the valley, up towards me, straight over my head and down into the next valley whilst I was standing on a mountain top in Bolivia, and I didn't see it beat its wings once...
View attachment 87116

And another condor, this one was just showing off in the Colca Canyon:
View attachment 87117

This Scarlet Ibis was right at the end of my 400mm zoom range, but it was the closest I got to one all day:
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Cheers,
Humphrey
 

Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Great shots Humphrey! Heck no I dont mind anyone posting up some Birds in Flight shots. That condor coming up and over you had to be one of those "Once In A Lifetime" moments
 

HumphreyBear

Adventurer
Thanks EMAM. As anyone with photographic passion understands (such as yourself and the other superb photographers who post in here) it was a a conundrum: watch in awe or photograph it and 'bag' the shot. So I compromised... I watched the bird sail towards me for a few minutes until it it came within range of my lens at full 400mm extension, stopped to watch when I realised it was going to go straight over my head but continued to track it blindly (when it was too close to focus anyway...), then resumed taking photos when it went back into range, then just watched it simply soar away. In the end it went about 20 feet over my head. You're right, though, it was a truly special moment and resulted in a great memory and what I like to think is a pretty good photo. Win win!

Humphrey
 

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