Alpine Swift (1 Viewer)

kim · Apr 16, 2006

Went to the Wirral in Cheshire this afternoon to try and see the Alpine Swift - and was lucky. However it was very high in the sky and it moved!!!
I managed to get a few shots in but they were all about the same standard. I have cropped it but that is all. I used Apperture Priority 5.6 and ISO was 200 - unfortunately I thought I had put it at 400. Howevber the bloke next to me was on 100ISO. I would appreciate any advice as to the best tactics in these sort of situations - or should one just enjoy the bird and forget about the photo?

dbradnum · Apr 16, 2006

That's by no means a bad shot, Kim! I've seen far worse of UK rarities, especially fast moving ones.

No-one's going to be able to comment definitively on which ISO setting you should use because it all depends on the kit you're using and the available light at the time. All you can safely say is to use the lowest ISO setting that still allows a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the motion of the bird.

Mickymouse · Apr 16, 2006

Don't know what you are worried about, I would be pretty pleased if that was one of my pics.

Mick

kim · Apr 16, 2006

Mickymouse said:
Don't know what you are worried about, I would be pretty pleased if that was one of my pics.

Mick

Well thanks - but I see many pictures in the gallery of birds in flight and some of them are fantastic. Am not expecting that - but I class myself as still very much a beginner. I am using 20D IS 100-400mmL. Am I right in thinking that for moving things one should have a higher ISO number?

dbradnum · Apr 16, 2006

You're pretty much right there, Kim.

For moving subjects, you need a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion. Given fixed lighting conditions, shutter speed is related to two other controllable factors: aperture, and ISO rating.

For most bird photography (unless in very good light, or using a very good lens) it's a reasonable assumption that you'll use the maximum (widest) aperture possible, to get as much as possible through the lens.

If the shutter speed at maximum aperture is still not fast enough, then your only option is to increase the ISO rating... but this has the side effect of making the shot more grainy, i.e reducing quality.

So, to cut a long story short...

- get the camera set up at max aperture and ISO 100
- find out what sort of shutter speed that will permit you
- decide if that shutter speed is adequate for what you want to do
- only increase the ISO rating if it's not

IanF · Apr 16, 2006

I'd say it was a very good result as well :t:

Generally for birds in flight then a very fast shutter speed is needed. I see from the exif that your settings were ISO200 1/1600 f5,6 at 400mm - which couldn't have been much improved. Taking such photos against a bright sky can be very awkward, but you handled the exposure very well here. The IS on the 100-400mm is very effective for birds moving across the sky like this. Most often I leave it on f5,6 as well to go for fater shutter speed rather than depth of field.

With the 20D I leave it on ISO200 almost all of the time. There's little grain and marginal difference to ISO100 but the added shutter speed helps on occasion. ISO400 is pretty good too with some but not too bad noise.

I'd be very surprised lens for lens if the guy beside you ended up with better photos. If anything I'd have upped the shutter speed by moving to ISO400 - but only after taking several shots at the settings you used - bird permitting of course!

kim · Apr 16, 2006

IanF said:
I'd say it was a very good result as well :t:

Generally for birds in flight then a very fast shutter speed is needed. I see from the exif that your settings were ISO200 1/1600 f5,6 at 400mm - which couldn't have been much improved. Taking such photos against a bright sky can be very awkward, but you handled the exposure very well here. The IS on the 100-400mm is very effective for birds moving across the sky like this. Most often I leave it on f5,6 as well to go for fater shutter speed rather than depth of field.

With the 20D I leave it on ISO200 almost all of the time. There's little grain and marginal difference to ISO100 but the added shutter speed helps on occasion. ISO400 is pretty good too with some but not too bad noise.

I'd be very surprised lens for lens if the guy beside you ended up with better photos. If anything I'd have upped the shutter speed by moving to ISO400 - but only after taking several shots at the settings you used - bird permitting of course!

Very many thanks everybody for all the help. Bird Forum really is a brilliant site for getting such quick help on such a wide variety of topics.

Alpine Swift (1 Viewer)

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