Photographing small birds in flight. (1 Viewer)

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drumbatter100

Active member

• Mar 12, 2008

• #1

I have just got into the world of digital photography and am trying to film small birds in flight eg finches, tits, garden birds,etc.

At the moment I am finding it very difficult and am only getting about 1 decent photo in about every 500 exposures.

If any body could offer any help on photographing these birds it would be very much appreciated.

My equipment is as follows; Canon 40d, canon70-200 f4 L IS, canon 17-85 IS, Sigma 120-300 f2.8, Canon 1.4 extender, sigma 2x extender, canon 420ex flashgun.

many thanks

drumbatter 100

 

a.dancy

Registered User

• Mar 13, 2008

• #2

You are setting yourself a very difficult task. To photograph a small bird you need to be very close and they become very difficult to track. I can only make a suggestion and that is to find a perch which your intended subject uses regularly where there is a predictable flight path and plenty of light. Such a situation can of course be created. Preset manual focus and shoot on instinct and good luck. There are other methods, and others I hope, will chuck in their advice. At the end of the day you need a lot of patience. Try and keep bird tables out of shot.

 

DOC

Well-known member

• Mar 14, 2008

• #3

For someone who's just got into photography - you took one huge assignment -maybe THE MOST difficult challenge in bird photography = shooting small birds IN FLIGHT .
WOW!
Looking into your gallery - I see you manage very nicely and get some very good in-flight shots . I don't know the EXIF so I'll comment by hunch :
They are not sharp enough and I would try changing a couple of things :
1- remove the extender .
2- Don't use flash .

Shoot at very high shutter speeds ( 1/2000 etc ) , and maybe use the Sigma 2.8 which is a faster lens . If needed - crank up the Iso - you have nothing to worry about - your camera is almost noise free . I would shoot multiple burst shots at every attempt.
With time & practice your keepers will grow .

 

GYRob

Well-known member

• Mar 22, 2008

• #4

im not suprised at 1 in 500 it is very very hard to do even with a mk3 and 300f2.8 about as fast as you can get .
there is no easy way to do it -bright light not flash and 1/4000sec or above you may need f2.8 and iso 400 to be in with a chance even then you might only get up to 10 per 500 lots of luck is needed so 6.5fps and lots of burst's.
a couple i did
1dmk2 500f4isL Handheld 1/6000sec f4 iso 400 guessing when they will take off helps iv even walked towards them to make them fly while my camera is at my eye .
burst of shots is the key you just have to keep fireing
Rob.

 

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gordon g

Well-known member

• Mar 22, 2008

• #5

It's certainly a challenge you've set yorself. I think th eother posters have it right - set up so as you have a predictable flight path from or to a perch, with a suitably uncluttered background. Do everything you can to get a fast shutterspeed - fatser the better. Prefocussing will probably improve your hit rate once you are used to it. Try marking out your frame with garden cane or similar to give you some reference points, then shoot a burst as the bird flies through. Doing this, you could even mount the camera on a tripod close to flight path as trigger it remotely.

 

Jaff

Registered Member

• Mar 25, 2008

• #6

I managed it not so long ago. Some info in there as to how I got mine too.

http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/181375/ppuser/42340

I agree with all of the above. I especially agree with the idea of ditching the flashgun and instead see if you can find somewhere that is naturally well lit. Feeders or birdtables give the best opportunity as you can quite often readily predict the flightpath and some birds like Chaffinches are prone to hovering too (as I'm sure you have observed). Ideally you may want to create your own perch close to a feeder (as Adrian said), that way you can even create the correct flightpath.

Well that's my input, hope it helps.
Jaff

 

Pluvius

Well-known member

• Mar 25, 2008

• #7

I use a Canon 1d2n and the ef 400 f5.6 which is highly regarded for birds in flight. I may do a wee bit better than 1 in 500 but you need bright light and more often than not you may get one in focus but it will be looking the wrong way so I can tel you that those that do get nice shots of birds in flight are generally taking 1000's of photos to get the result.

Here is one of mine http://www.pbase.com/peregrine/image/92945152

 

Tim Taylor

work in progress

• Mar 27, 2008

• #8

Here's an attempt of mine with a 30D and Sigma 500mm f4.5 prime. This is full frame so perhaps it's not surprising that I've clipped a wing. Shutter speed 1/1250sec shutter speed, ISO 640, f8. I kept the aperture relatively small to increase my chance of an in focus shot. I knew the birds were landing here (food on the perch) and had to slow down at this point (or crash). Because I knew the plane the bird would be in I could pre-focus. It was a bright day which brought it's own headaches of high contrast shots but you need the light to get the shutter speed. Good fun trying.

 

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