BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="paul goode" data-source="post: 1192673" data-attributes="member: 5522">Hi Gordon, I agree with Roy, using all focus points simply means the camera can re-focus on something with higher contrast, which will almost certainly be the background.However, I've been amusing myself with the same challenge and have totally failed so far to get a decent shot of a Tern against a cluttered background. So, are we rubbish or is this a tough challenge?<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />I hope its the latter because 3 of us were trying to photograph black terns at the weekend using, I think a 1d, 30d and 40d with expensive lenses and couldn't get a focus lock between us unless the birds cleared the treeline. The birds were a long way off and the weather poor but it basically was impossible to get a shot without resorting to manual focus which I can't because i'm as blind as a bat. My best result is attached, I think the rain adds a certain something - don't laugh! :-CIf anyone else has got any tips apart from practice, practice, practice (which I'm doing) I'll love to hear them as well</blockquote>