advice sought for photographing swifts in flight (1 Viewer)

[silvercrest]

hi, can anyone give me any advice for taking photos of swisftsin flight? tons of swifts fly overhead every summer and ive tried to photograph them without much success. theyre too quick. i dont have access to any nests under eaves etc. ive got a Canon EOS450D and a sigma 500zoom lens. ive tried handheld and tripod. got any tips please?

 

[Farnboro John]

Try a reserve where they feed low - anywhere with a big reedbed and open water - Minsmere or Dungeness are good. Get on the upwind side of the water and practice and practice and practice. The birds will feed into wind so a good breeze will reduce their ground speed (i.e. their speed relative to you rather than to the airflow).

If you can get used to shooting with both eyes open, so you look through the viewfinder with one but get the general view with the other, and can mentally switch dominance between the two, you should start finding them in the viewfinder more easily (this is not as hard as it sounds but requires practice).

Also don't go for frame-filling images, at least to start with. Start with either less focal length or birds further away.

A monopod is sometimes better than a tripod (less likely to trip over a leg as you swing the lens) but either is better than handheld. Letting the tripod/monopod take the weight makes it easier to concentrate on swinging the camera accurately.

Good luck, its still not easy.

John

 

[GavinM]

With the D2x the only way I've found to get swallows and swifts in focus is to set it to 'focus on absolutely anything' with continuous focus selected and shoot lots. It's one of the trickiest things to get right for me.

 

[Mannix]

I get some half reasonable results by just getting right underneath them and then follow a group with my camera set on AI Servo focus. Then just click away and hope for the best. I doubt you will get a nice close up though. I got this first pic on 1st May this year. The second two I got last year.
But the last two are my best ever Swift shots. You could say I cheated slightly though lol.

 

[mikfoz]

In this order:

Set pattern metering; set spot focus; set exposure bias 1 or even 1.5 spots under; point lens at Swift; pan and shoot like hell on full continous shutter; hope for the best and accept that one shot in 25 will be remotely acceptable; post the 1 in 500 shot you got and preen like a god of photography.

 

[lmans66]

post the 1 in 500 shot you got and preen like a god of photography.

I love this thinking!..

Actually I like the ideas about heading upwind....that way the swifts will be coming at you as they slow down...easily to shoot. Also, a ton of shots as in 1/500... great advice!

 

[mikfoz]

I love this thinking!..

Actually I like the ideas about heading upwind....that way the swifts will be coming at you as they slow down...easily to shoot. Also, a ton of shots as in 1/500... great advice!

Flight shots are a bugger to get. One day you can't get one for love nor money, the next day you're spoilt for choice. Swifts are... well... swift. It's difficult to track something the size of your hand moving at sixty miles an hour through a tube with a field of view of about 2 degrees at all, let alone get it sharp and metered right. The fact we get any good pics at all is a minor miracle.

I challenge any photographer to tell me they reliably point and shoot at birds in flight with just one well-timed pic and get a result every time.

 

[hollis_f]

I challenge any photographer to tell me they reliably point and shoot at birds in flight with just one well-timed pic and get a result every time.

Of course I do...

I also leap tall buildings with a single bound; clean a big, big, carpet for less than half a crown; change water into wine; can tell the difference between Stork and butter - and always, always, tell the truth.

 

[silvercrest]

i can definately tell the difference between stork and butter!!!!

 

[silvercrest]

I get some half reasonable results by just getting right underneath them and then follow a group with my camera set on AI Servo focus. Then just click away and hope for the best. I doubt you will get a nice close up though. I got this first pic on 1st May this year. The second two I got last year.
But the last two are my best ever Swift shots. You could say I cheated slightly though lol.

my efforts turn out about the same as these, except the last two....how did you do that?

 

[Mannix]

my efforts turn out about the same as these, except the last two....how did you do that?

We got them as about 5 day old chicks after some builder sealed off the roof their nest was in. We hand reared them until they flew. That photo was the day they left. Here they are the day we got them.......

 

[silvercrest]

swift chicks pics

We got them as about 5 day old chicks after some builder sealed off the roof their nest was in. We hand reared them until they flew. That photo was the day they left. Here they are the day we got them.......

thanx for the reply. thats great. i think you did well to rear them - it couldnt have been easy. i tried to rear a moorhen chick once, but it died within 24 hours. it saddened you to see them go?

 

[silvercrest]

i went out and tried to photo some swifts in flight over my back garden. i used some of the advice and i got one pretty good one which is going in the birds of britain and europe gallery tonight

 

[Mannix]

thanx for the reply. thats great. i think you did well to rear them - it couldnt have been easy. i tried to rear a moorhen chick once, but it died within 24 hours. it saddened you to see them go?

No it didn't sadden me, quite the opposite. It was possibly one of the biggest and most emotional buzzes I have ever felt when the first one went. I had tears streaming down my face knowing that we had done it. Seeing it flying down the street and over the rooftops where it belonged made it worth every second. The second chick waited another seven hours before it decided to go, and it was the same story then.

 

[Mannix]

i went out and tried to photo some swifts in flight over my back garden. i used some of the advice and i got one pretty good one which is going in the birds of britain and europe gallery tonight

Is there a link to your pic?

 

[silvercrest]

link

Is there a link to your pic?

i havent got around to figuring out things like links yet. i cant even work out how to get my pic under my username!!!!!! but ill put the pic on the gallery in the next few mins. its not brilliant but im satisfied with it for the time being

 

[Mannix]

i havent got around to figuring out things like links yet. i cant even work out how to get my pic under my username!!!!!!

Top of the page is a link to User Control Panel. Go in there and upload a pic from your PC as your avatar.

 

[John P]

Is there a link to your pic?

Just *left click* on a members name and choose *View this users gallery*

 

[Mannix]

Cheers, just checked out your pic, it's better than mine so well done. Going to try my best to get a good one this summer.

 

[silvercrest]

thanx Mannix, but nowhere as good asyour pics of your rescued swifts. not even in the same league, methinks. wexll have to see who can come up with the best swift in flight pic - competition open to all on this thread? heh heh