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Bird Photography Help
Submitted by Ray Hines on Thu, 09/08/2012 - 21:27
Hi All
I was playing about with my new Pentax K-r today taking some shots of flying shitehawks. I was trying the continuous shooting mode, a bit like shooting clay pidgeons with a machine gun.
I was using a 18-55mm lens (I wasn't expecting to be taking photos of birds) set at f/8, 1/640sec and ISO 200 and spot metering. It was a bit misty so didn't expect much. Didn't expect much anyway as I was just testing the feature. I also have a 55-200 kit lens.
Anyway here's a couple I got, after cropping and some pp in Photoshop. Any hints/tips on this type of shooting would be appreciated, especially from the current site expert Jan.
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Patience.
It will serve you better than almost anything else.
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Patiants and Practice. But I will tell you I like your shots. I am some what a beginner and there is no way I could have done that. I CAN say good job!
Nathan C. Enyart
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love the last one with a very witty caption
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Ray they are good shots, the last one especially and although the first two look a little misty that second one is a great capture - to be honest most of mine are trial and error, try to get a decent background so your bird stands out adn I try to anticipate where they will be! I know its not always easy which I why I don't have many decent ones, lol
Good luck and keep practicing xxx
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Hi Ray,
Keep practising your panning technique. I discovered how out of practise I was at the Sunderland air show last month. Start panning early by twisting at the waist, follow your subject and fire the shutter when ready. Keep panning after you have stopped shooting - this ensures a smooth movement.
A higher ISO will allow a faster shutter speed, but watch for noise at higher ISO's (remember though- a good picture with noise is better than no picture at all). If your camera has an Auto ISO feature, try this. Choose the highest ISO you want to allow. Put the camera in P or S mode, select a fast shutter speed and the camera will choose an ISO and aperture to try to attain that speed. What speed you choose depends on what kind of shot you want. If you want to freeze the action, you'll need a fast shutter speed. To blur the background whilst panning, you'll need a slower speed - experiment to find what gives the bast results.
Andy.
My gallery http://www.myfinepix.com/gallery/498548
I have a photographic memory. Unfortunately I forgot to remove the lens cap!
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Not off too a bad start at all Ray, as a mad lover of the birds in flight I really appreciate the just how frustrating it can be. All of the advice that you'll need is all above. Best of all is practice, practice, practice. Definitely bump your iso up to around the 400 mark, this is about spot on for most UK bird shooting. It always seems to be a nice balance between noise and shutter speed. The shutter speed is all about the bird your trying to shoot and how good your panning is. If your trying to shoot swifts or swallows etc then a fast shutter speed with fast panning, but that really is all about practice.
The best of all advice I can offer from personal experience is to practice like crazy on Gulls. There slow enough to build your confidence and plenty enough to keep playing with your settings, and don't be afraid to go lower with your f.stop or higher never quite know which way round, look for around f.4 or somewhere close. Hope thats of some help to you matey.
Good luck.
All the best
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