Experience with rapid-response photography? (1 Viewer)

[earlytorise]

I have been deeply impressed with flight shots of cuckoos that come across my radar, here in Hong Kong.

E.g. Common Cuckoo and Oriental Cuckoo are best told apart by the underwing pattern,

so, the fact that somebody would be able to see it fly out of a tree unexpectedly, point your whacking big lens at it as it is flying and fire off a successful in-focus shot before it disappears into another tree

is beyond me

especially as someone who only uses a superzoom point-and-shoot.

Even if I had a DSLR, how much practice do I have to get to do that, or to be able to capture a photo of a Phyllosc moving with a roving flock, or some other situation where you can't lose even a split-second?

 

[Farnboro John]

The bird may not fly out of the tree unexpectedly but been prodded under instruction from the photographer - or the photographer may have lined it up and been waiting for it to take flight - or they may have coincidentally pressed the tit as it launched (I have a few like that!)

However, you are right that a DSLR gives you an edge in going live, while wearing your camera in your hand or on an over-shoulder strap on one hip makes for a fast draw.

Once the camera is in your hand the problem is to bring it to your eye, locate the bird, focus and fire in the minimum possible time. Acquiring the bird in the centre of the frame is the thing to practice and you simply cannot get enough practice at that, it's worth every spare minute you can give to it whether you want photos of the species you are practicing on or not. It means being able to judge the movement of the bird - speed and angle - and place the camera on where it will be as your eye adapts to looking through the lens.

You will quickly realise that a wider field of view increases your ability to acquire the bird but inevitably means fewer pixels on target. With practice you can find your limits at varying distances and after that set-up your focal length (notice I'm assuming the use of a zoom lens) to maximise your chances within your own limitations. If you can acquire the bird, zoom in and shoot then I applaud your ability because the last bit I find a bit beyond me: I prefer to stick with the zoom as set originally.

Hope this helps!

John

 

[JTweedie]

Many modern mirrorless cameras also have AI built in to them so that they can recognise something with a face and keep it in focus, so I wonder if many of these top shots are being done using these smart, really fast cameras and lenses?

I do think a bit of anticipation plays a big role too. If you know a bird is in a tree, then it's going to leave eventually, so just a matter of setting yourself up somewhere with a good clear view and waiting for the right moment.

 

[kids]

look at the EM1 X from olympus , it has a feature that takes images continuously but only saves them when you fully depress the shutter button. Thus you focus on the perched bird , semi depress and only fully depress when it takes off , very simple on a tripod using remote shutter release . And taking Bird In Flight shots (BIF in photo speak) is , like most skills , improved massively with practice