Help with taking photo's of birds in sky (1 Viewer)

Can someone please help, I am getting very frustrated trying to get photo's of birds with the sky as background. It doesn't make any difference whether its cloudy or sunny.
I have my 300D on P mode so the exposer is set, then I put +2 compensation stops and they still appear dark. I have tried minus compensation but that only makes them to thin. Plus 1 and that still isn't enough. I have also tried with the standard lens as well as the 75-300. Still no luck. The photo attached is the results I am getting, This is only cropped for the web no addition work done.

What am I doing wrong. :h?:

I set my Nikon at a reasonable shutter speed - say 1/500th at 500mm, have the autofocus on continuous, and have the metering set on spot metering (in the centre). Then i just track the bird and start shooting when the autofocus has locked on - the continuous focusing usually maintains the lock - unless i "lose" the bird.

Maying you have your metering set to centre-weighted? If so, try it on spot. It the "spot" is on the bird, you should be OK. Works well with Nikon, but not sure how "small" the spot is on the Canon.

Christine ,I started a thread re flight shots about a week ago,maybe 10 days.There was lots of helpful info,maybe someone could put a link to the thread.It was suggested using the 300d in the Sports mode,and trying manual focus,then auto focus.My main problem is getting the bird in focus at all.i see it in the sky,raise the camera,look through the view point but no bird,I am then waving the camera all around trying to follow the bird which has long gone,very frustrating.

rezMole

I have just looked at the data for the photo.
Aperture= f6.3
Shutter speed= 640sec
Metering mode =Evaluation
AF= 1 shot autoficus

It looks like I have to press AE lock to get it into Partial metering which uses 9% of the screen. Thats if I am in either ther P,TV or AV modes. If I put it into manual mode that would gives me center weighted.

Hello Christine

I have read that thread a lot of very useful information. I am now getting better action shots. Its the sky background I am having problems with trying to get the setting right. What I havn't tried is in manual mode and set my own aperture and speed and ignore the bright background.

Evaluation will meter for the whole shot - which is not what you want. I'm sure the camera should have spot metering (on the D70 this is about 1% of the frame) Centre-weighted is usually OK too, as long as the bird isn't just a dot!

As far as I can tell reading the manual, there isn't spot metering only partial or center weighted

Christine I've had a scan of the 300D manual and revisted the AE lock and partial metering which is 9% area. Not as good as the Nikon spot metering but may get you a lot closer.

Try the following and see if it's better.

Set camera to TV mode and select a good shutter speed ( 1/500 to 1/1000)
When you have focused on the bird press the AE lock button and keep it pressed while firing the shutter in single mode or multi mode. This setup will also accept compensation if required. When the AE lock button is pressed it takes a reading from the centre 9% of the frame. Holding it down will lock the exposure for the next frame.

The pain is getting used to operating the shutter and AE lock button at the same time.

I have used the AE lock to great effect for sunrise & sunset shots but have never tried it for birds in flight. My birds in flight have been more luck than skill, I've never learnt the art.

Robert

The #1 thing I can suggest is stop using program mode. It is the absolute worst mode on your camera and generally worthless.

Start using manual (The M on your dial...I assume the 300D has full manual mode) and set the aperture and shutter speed yourself. Then you have complete control. What you want to do in this instance is as follows:

1) Point your camera/lens at the sky in manual mode, and look through the viewfinder with the shutter button depressed part way to focus.

2) Set the f/stop to something reasonable, like f/8 or some such...less if you need more shutter speed...and then adjust the shutter speed until the meter reads, say, at 0.

3) Take a shot, view in your viewfinder, and adjust your shutter speed to compensate for what you view in the histogram. You want a balanced histogram with the majority of the information in the middle two thirds of the histogram. You don't want anything on the far right edge as you are blowing out your whites, or the far left edge as you will be losing shadow detail.

It takes some getting used to setting the aperture and shutter speed yourself, but you get so much more control over the situation. In some instances, with rapidly changing light, it might be useful to use aperture priority, but most of the time manual mode is a better choice. Especially in even, unchanging light. You can just meter what you are shooting at (say flight shots against sky, meter the sky) and then leave the settings there without having to worry about the camera changing them on you.

As an example. It is sunny out, with the sun setting slowly here in Minneapolis at 7pm local time. I just took my Canon 20D with a 70-200mm f/2.8L lens and set it at f/16, 1/250th, ISO400 and pointed it at the sky. The exposure comp was at 0. This produced an image with all of the image information in the center third of the histogram. I then adjusted the exposure +2/3 by setting the shutter speed to 1/160th. This produced a lighter image with the image information farther to the right towards the right third of the histogram.

Now ISO of course helps determine shutter speed, and the same exact image at f/16, 1/250th, ISO400 I then took at ISO100. However, each stop of ISO represents a full stop of light, so from ISO 400 to ISO 100 is 2 full stops of light, so I kept at 1/250th, but dropped 2 stops of light to f/8. This produced exactly the same image, with exactly the same histogram.

Sitting in front of your mirror, or on your deck or in your backyard, and just playing on manual exposure mode taking images with varying f/stops, shutter speeds, and ISO's will give you a feel for how each of the variables affect the image.

Cheers,

Yes I agree with Chris when Auto exposure mode fails use manual mode. For subjects such as high reflections off water I often set the exposure manually from a grass bank or some other mid tone subject. Auto can be more trouble than its worth in difficult lighting conditions. Unless the sun is playing peek a boo behind clouds all the time the light does not vary that much. Manual mode is how it was done in the old days and it worked fine for them.

I know some guys who don't use a light meter at all for photographing dark church interiors with light only from the stained glass windows. They gauge the light by eye and use their experience to make the camera settings.

Auto exposure is just a convenient way of maintaining a desired shutter speed or aperture setting and is quite effective on low to mid contrast subjects.

Robert

Thank you all for all your help. I will be doing a lot of playing today. Using the grass as my 18% grey is a good start. You wouldn't believe it but many years ago I did photography for a living. But these where mainly portrait, weddings and landscapes. This is a whole new ball game. I can't believe how much I have forgotten I am having to relearn evrything I know.

Best of luck,Christine.I have read all the info given,but by the time I had sorted out the settings,burds will be long gone!!.It seems as though one ought to preset the settings in advance,then one will be ready to catch the bird as it flies overhead.
I'll keep an eye open in the Gallery ,Christine,I hope you manage to take some good shots.