Crows aren't Turkey Vultures

[Cortian]

My wife says this is a sign spring is not far off.

My first attempt at catching birds on the wing. Canon 40D in programmed exposure mode, auto-ISO. Canon 70-300mm DO lens. 100% crops. #1 was lightened a bit. They all got a light touch of unsharp mask.

C&C welcome. (I have some of my own ideas where I went wrong.)

 

[BrentC]

First thing is, that is a crow not a turkey vulture. No need to use such a high aperture, f13. You can shoot wide open, f5.6 on your long end is more than sufficient. Exposure is too dark, bring up exposure more. In fact learn to use EC/EV (Exposure compensation) to adjust while shooting. It is needed if your using Auto ISO and especially shooting black or white subjects. Also for BIF's best to use spot metering instead of matrix.

 

[Cortian]

Thanks for the pointers, Brent!

I thought they were crows, but my wife insisted they were turkey vultures.

 

[BrentC]

Thanks for the pointers, Brent!

I thought they were crows, but my wife insisted they were turkey vultures.

They are kinda hard to mistake

Turkey Vulture by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I hope your wife is right because I have been seeing crows for a bit now lol.

 

[Cortian]

Thanks for the pointers, Brent!

I thought they were crows, but my wife insisted they were turkey vultures.

They are kinda hard to mistake

I should say so!

Turns out my wife thought they were turkey vultures because she'd been told (by people who should have known better) they were turkey vultures. When she first told me that's what they were, years ago, I was sceptical, but... hey, I'm originally a city kid, so who was I to argue

Anyway: Thanks again for the pointers.

 

[Donde]

I wonder if the shutter speed was a little low.

I always tell girls who say "yuck" to Turkey or Black Vultures well at least they are loyal to their mate for life, unlike the guys in your life ha ha.

 

[Cortian]

I wonder if the shutter speed was a little low.

I dunno. 1/1000th seems pretty fast, no?

I always tell girls who say "yuck" to Turkey or Black Vultures well at least they are loyal to their mate for life, unlike the guys in your life ha ha.

Experimented with exposure compensation against some roof vents on a house across the street this morning.

 

[zulu42]

1/1000 can still give some motion blur, especially on smaller birds.

I found that (for my shooting style)using auto ISO shooting birds made me fiddle with exposure comp more than changing ISO as needed. So, I went back to manual.

I usually set my ISO to give me about a 1/1600 shutter speed when metering against a partial sky. That way, I have a good range to adjust exposure using shutter speed. A dark bird against a bright sky, I can drop to 1/1000 on a BIF or slower for a perched bird. A front lit or well lit subject I might increase shutter speed. I change my ISO if I go into a shady area, or a bright area so I'm ready to shoot at 1/1600.

Might not be the best way to do it, but that's my current method.

 

[BrentC]

I have a custom BIF setting that I can switch to very fast. Aperture Priority, auto ISO w/minimum shutter speed set to 1/1600.

This way my shutter speed will never go below 1/1600 so I don't worry about it. Camera will keep boosting ISO until it hits the max I set, which is 3200, before it will set shutter below 1/1600. The only thing I adjust is aperture and EC. Aperture is always wide open unless subject is very close. EC I adjust on the fly. I have the added benefit of having a live histogram in my EVF. I use this setting for most of my BIF's.

I find 1\1600 shutter speed is fast enough for 90% of birds. For birds like swallows I'm usually around 1/2000-2500. If I was specifically shooting eagles or hawks the about 1/1250 but you can go even slower.

 

[Cortian]

Unfortunately I don't have a minimum shutter speed setting on my 40D, so I'll have to go to Av and manually tune ISO on-the-fly, I guess?

 

[MSnowy]

Nice set for your first attempt. You picked one of the hardest birds to get good exposure on. Setting are really depended of the lighting conditions you're shooting in. 1/2000 is great if that's what you can get but some days 1/500 is all your going to get. It's really all about practice. Take what's been suggested but don't be afraid to try all different combinations of setting.

 

[Cortian]

Thanks for the encouragement, MSnowy

 

[BrentC]

Yeah, there is no one way to use your settings. Some will shoot in shutter priority and some manual. The way I have it set works for me. Of course on trickier situations I will end up in manual to have more control.

 

[Cortian]

Yeah, there is no one way to use your settings.

Certainly, but, make no mistake: If my camera body supported a minimum shutter speed setting, I'd use it for this kind of thing in a heartbeat.