Flying Birds

[omega1234]

Feedback welcome:

 

[JacaRanda]

Hello Omega. Unfortunately the bird is facing away from us and is too small in the frame. The shutter speed you used seems to be fine for capturing the bird in flight and the movement of the wings.

What camera and lens did you use?

 

[omega1234]

Canon Rebel T3 with the kit lens, since I am new to photography I haven't gotten better lenses yet. I was trying to capture flying birds for a while and eventually got a suitable shutter speed, 1/1000 seconds. The focus is off though, it was hard because the birds are erratic and fly off in random directions. I would like to try again another time.

 

[CMfromIL]

Canon Rebel T3 with the kit lens, since I am new to photography I haven't gotten better lenses yet. I was trying to capture flying birds for a while and eventually got a suitable shutter speed, 1/1000 seconds. The focus is off though, it was hard because the birds are erratic and fly off in random directions. I would like to try again another time.

Well the good news is that flying birds are generally easy to find. You might go to a pond or lake in your area and try ducks or geese. They are larger, fly slower and are somewhat predictable.

The first one is OOF (out of focus) as is the 2nd. If you are just starting read the manual. The T3 is a nice camera. Change your focus to AI Servo. It will focus on the subject, even if it moves as long as the shutter button is pressed 1/2 way. Of course you will need to keep the focus point on the bird(or other subject) It will make a world of difference.

Right now your problem isn't lens related, its inexperience related. Practice, practice, practice. The practice some more. You will get better very quickly.

 

[omega1234]

Canon Rebel T3 with the kit lens, since I am new to photography I haven't gotten better lenses yet. I was trying to capture flying birds for a while and eventually got a suitable shutter speed, 1/1000 seconds. The focus is off though, it was hard because the birds are erratic and fly off in random directions. I would like to try again another time.

Well the good news is that flying birds are generally easy to find. You might go to a pond or lake in your area and try ducks or geese. They are larger, fly slower and are somewhat predictable.

The first one is OOF (out of focus) as is the 2nd. If you are just starting read the manual. The T3 is a nice camera. Change your focus to AI Servo. It will focus on the subject, even if it moves as long as the shutter button is pressed 1/2 way. Of course you will need to keep the focus point on the bird(or other subject) It will make a world of difference.

Right now your problem isn't lens related, its inexperience related. Practice, practice, practice. The practice some more. You will get better very quickly.

I agree that they're both out of focus. The birds are just so unpredictable, they kept flying out of the area I had focussed on. I think that autofocus might help for the birds, thanks.

 

[CMfromIL]

I agree that they're both out of focus. The birds are just so unpredictable, they kept flying out of the area I had focussed on. I think that autofocus might help for the birds, thanks.

Ok, 1 problem here. Were you trying to manually focus on the birds? Because that would be really hard, and not really worth the time unless you were in some sort of manual-focus bird contest.

AI-Servo is a subset of Auto-Focus. In your case, the camera is most likely set from the factory as '1 shot focus' which means when you click the shutter 1/2 way it 'locks' focus on the area you are focused on. Great for portraits as your subject isn't going to fly away. Terrible for action pictures, because most certainly by the time you compose the shot, and press the shutter down (the bird) is already moving.

AI-Servo locks onto the subject when you press the shutter button down 1/2. And it continually focuses on the subject even if it moves closer, or farther away from the lens. Your responsiblity is to maintain the focus point ON THE SUBJECT while it's moving. The camera will then keep it in focus as you fully press down the shutter.

As for the birds...find bigger birds. Ducks and geese are great. Slower moving, much bigger and predictable. Short of trying to photograph bees in flight, your little birds would be difficult for a novice to track.

Good luck, and have fun.

 

[omega1234]

I agree that they're both out of focus. The birds are just so unpredictable, they kept flying out of the area I had focussed on. I think that autofocus might help for the birds, thanks.

Ok, 1 problem here. Were you trying to manually focus on the birds? Because that would be really hard, and not really worth the time unless you were in some sort of manual-focus bird contest.

AI-Servo is a subset of Auto-Focus. In your case, the camera is most likely set from the factory as '1 shot focus' which means when you click the shutter 1/2 way it 'locks' focus on the area you are focused on. Great for portraits as your subject isn't going to fly away. Terrible for action pictures, because most certainly by the time you compose the shot, and press the shutter down (the bird) is already moving.

AI-Servo locks onto the subject when you press the shutter button down 1/2. And it continually focuses on the subject even if it moves closer, or farther away from the lens. Your responsiblity is to maintain the focus point ON THE SUBJECT while it's moving. The camera will then keep it in focus as you fully press down the shutter.

As for the birds...find bigger birds. Ducks and geese are great. Slower moving, much bigger and predictable. Short of trying to photograph bees in flight, your little birds would be difficult for a novice to track.

Good luck, and have fun.

Ok, this was very helpful. I am going to go do some reading.

 

[omega1234]

I agree that they're both out of focus. The birds are just so unpredictable, they kept flying out of the area I had focussed on. I think that autofocus might help for the birds, thanks.

Ok, 1 problem here. Were you trying to manually focus on the birds? Because that would be really hard, and not really worth the time unless you were in some sort of manual-focus bird contest.

AI-Servo is a subset of Auto-Focus. In your case, the camera is most likely set from the factory as '1 shot focus' which means when you click the shutter 1/2 way it 'locks' focus on the area you are focused on. Great for portraits as your subject isn't going to fly away. Terrible for action pictures, because most certainly by the time you compose the shot, and press the shutter down (the bird) is already moving.

AI-Servo locks onto the subject when you press the shutter button down 1/2. And it continually focuses on the subject even if it moves closer, or farther away from the lens. Your responsiblity is to maintain the focus point ON THE SUBJECT while it's moving. The camera will then keep it in focus as you fully press down the shutter.

As for the birds...find bigger birds. Ducks and geese are great. Slower moving, much bigger and predictable. Short of trying to photograph bees in flight, your little birds would be difficult for a novice to track.

Good luck, and have fun.

Wow, I just tried AI Servo and it is a very cool feature. Thanks CM, this truly was very helpful.

 

[CMfromIL]

You are most welcome. For the most part, I just leave my camera in AI-Servo all of the time. Only on rare occasions where I suspect there will be little movement (like a group picture or something) I switch back to 1 shot focus.

Have fun. Read the manual. It will be helpful.