Taking photo's into blue sky (1 Viewer)

Hi all, When ever I try to take photo of birds (espically raptors) on a blue sky back ground as shown in this photo, I only seem to get a siloute of the bird and lose so much colour and detail, any advice on how to get over this please.

Depends on the metering mode you are using and how much of the bird is filling the frame but for a darkish bird against a light sky you will need to dial in ev compensation of up to +2. Your problem is because the camera is metering for the bright sky and there fore the dark bird will be underexposed.

Besides what has been suggested by Roy, I'd suggest using an optimized aperture, f8 or f11 usually.

As I've said elsewhere in these situations I switch to manual setting, shutter at 1/800 or 1/1000 with ISO 400 keeping to minimum aperture (f5.6 in my case), Alternatively if your camera has Custom modes like the 40D then you can enter these settings in to C1 and quickly switch to that when opportunity knocks. This works especially well with raptors as they don't tend to have fast wingbeats that usually require higher shutter speeds. You can work around these for the desired shot though, if you want a bit more freeze then ISO 500 and shutter set to 1/1250 or something. Same principal goes for wanting f8 etc. Just fiddle with them a bit.

Regards.

Jaff

From my limited experience with kites, I think dark birds against a bright sky are pretty much a lost cause unless you can catch them turning with the sun on their wings and back or belly, which is easier to do in the morning and evening, and easier if they're flying low (in which case you may not need to worry about the sky so much). I don't see that any manual setting is going to give you a high definition picture with nice colours if most of the bird is in dark shadow - inevitable if it's flying horizontally in the middle of the day.

M

True enough Momo, you might not get a great picture in those circumstances but my suggestion is the best way I've found of overcoming the over the top shutter speeds that the camera often selects with these situations in AV mode.

What was this picture taken at?