Needing a little direction regarding birds in flight.

[Netskimmer]

Hi all,

I've had an interest in photographing birds in fligh and in particular, raptors for some time but I can't seem to get any traction with it.

My current plan is to read up on it, study migration, nesting, and behavioral patterns and try to identify good areas near me to photograph them. There is a raptor sanctuary a mere hours drive from me so I thought I'd head out there and get some practice before wandering off into the wilderness.

Do you folks know of any good resources (websites, books, ect) to get me started?

 

[SCraig]

The best advice is in your signature; "Go forth and actuate!" In other words, just do it.

Use the highest shutter speed you can get to start with. PAN WITH YOUR SUBJECT! You cannot hold the camera still and hope to get sharp shots, you HAVE to pan with the subject. Don't try and zoom too tightly, leave yourself some room for the inevitable movement of the bird. Above all, just get out there and make some mistakes

 

[Netskimmer]

Above all, just get out there and make some mistakes

That's actually one of the things I'm good at lol!

My biggest issue is just finding them and being in a position to get good shots of them when I do.

 

[Stevepwns]

I am fortunate enough to live by the bay, so I go down and practice taking pictures of seagulls. There are a lot of them and constantly landing and taking off. So if you have the chance just find a place that has birds in general. Like ducks, seagulls, Canadian geese hang out on large groups. If you can, practice on whats available and then chase your preferred subject. That's what I do. I hope that helps some....

 

[Netskimmer]

One of the places I planned to go to is Lake Norman, but it's a little ways off, I've been looking at places closer to me. There should be a few places close by.

 

[matthewo]

Where do you live? I may live near you, im an hour from charlotte

 

[Netskimmer]

I recently moved to Mocksville.

 

[coastalconn]

You have already gotten some good advice. I learned so much by shooting gulls. They can really help you learn how to track and not stab at the shutter. You will also understand ideal light on flying birds and how to use exposure compensation. Another bit of advice I was told in the beginning that helped quite a bit was auto ISO. Shoot in aperture mode with max ISO at 800 (I think that's good on the D7000) with min shutter at 1/1000th. It will help you learn about ideal shutter/iso setting for your camera and your target. I always recommend ebird.org for info, you can search your area for sighting and explore what is in season...

Even better hook up with MathewO... He is very talented and knowledgeable with birds...

 

[matthewo]

Oh, im the other way, im in South Carolina. Would have said we could get together and shoot

 

[Netskimmer]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll just have to find some birds and start shooting. Too bad we're not closer Matthewo, I'm sure we could have had lots of fun. I need to find a local camera club down here.

 

[sm4him]

Oh, im the other way, im in South Carolina. Would have said we could get together and shoot

And I'm probably about the same distance away, over in TN. Maybe sometime we *should* all meet up somewhere in the middle, which would be pretty close to where Netskimmer is. Won't happen THIS year though, at least for me--I've already overbooked plans for my vacation days!

Netskimmer: I got started with birds just by shooting the ones in my backyard. Before February of 2012, I'd never even had a single birdfeeder in my yard. I really only starting doing bird photography to practice shooting a moving target, but then I got hooked on it.

I just set out several feeders in my yard, and tried to situate them near trees or other natural "perches"--bushes, etc. I also set some seed out on the woodpile, which turned out to be one of the very best spots for good photos.
This past winter, I had a woodpile in a perfect location, so that I can put seed on the woodpile, then sit on the ground right up next to my car, which basically acted as a blind. I was about 20 feet away from the birds, and unless I moved the camera too fast, they just didn't really care.

Almost ALL of my early shots were ordinary things like cardinals, mockingbirds, wrens and robins. But they're just as good as anything else to practice on. Honestly, in my experience, shooting the raptors, in flight at least, is much easier than shooting songbirds in flight, so if you can get the songbirds, you'll be able to get the bigger birds.

Another thing to note about my early shots: They were terrible. :lmao: Seriously, they were just bad. I was never close enough; I didn't really pan with them so I almost never caught the whole bird in the frame when they were flying, or if I did they were blurry.
Just keep at it and try out the advice you get from these good folks.

Kris' advice about using auto-ISO has been absolutely GOLDEN for me.

One great way of getting some decent pictures is to figure out where the birds ARE, then find yourself a place close by to hunker down and hide out. Then--WAIT. and Wait. and wait some more. The birds will fly off when you arrive, but if it's an area they frequent, they'll return soon enough.
Once they return, the trickiest part, for me, is not getting so excited that I make a sudden movement, like lifting the camera up too fast--they'll catch that movement and take off again.

 

[Netskimmer]

Thanks for the advice sm4him, I have a woodpile out back, maybe I'll pick up some bird seed at the store on my way home from work. Finding out where the birds are is my first challenge. I need to figure out where raptors congregate in my area. In the mean time I'll try to get some practice photographing the birds around my house. I'll be sure to post some of my failures for critique.

 

[sm4him]

Thanks for the advice sm4him, I have a woodpile out back, maybe I'll pick up some bird seed at the store on my way home from work.

Yeah, I'd definitely give it a try; worst case scenario, you're out a little money for birdseed. It may take a few days for them to decide to check it out, or it may only take a few minutes--kinda depends on how many birds you've already got hanging around.
I'd set up an area where you're going to sit to watch and try to get pictures first. THEN, I'd set out the birdseed and go back inside and wait a while. Let them find it and start coming to the seed first. Then go get in your spot--yeah, the birds will disappear but it shouldn't take them long to come back, once you know they've found the seed.

 

[Netskimmer]

A few shots of the wood pile I mentioned taken from just inside my basement door using the Sigma 50-500. Not the greatest shots but I think this would be a good place to set up.

 

[matthewo]

a lot of times its being in the right place at the right time.

if you get a lot of activity and know the habits of the bird your taking a photo of that will help a lot. having a bird fly by you in an open field is very nice, it really helps auto focus when the bird is the only thing moving in the frame and there are not distracting branches.

getting the best flight shots are going to happen when you prefocus a particular area and have all your setting right, and happen to have a bird fly right into your area then your focus is already close, and it wont hunt, and hopefully grab on fast.

then you can use AF-ON button, which if you have I say you start getting used to using to do focus. I usually use AF-21 point for BIF and C mode for continuous when AF-ON is pressed. there are also other settings that you can change depending on how advanced the camera body is, as to how fast AF changes focus.

here is probably my favorite raptor in flight shot. this was taken very close to my house, I had a pair of nesting red shoulder hawks and there was a lot of flying around, this was just luck that I could fill the frame and auto focus grabbed at a very close fly by.


also looking at your gear you may do better with the Nikon 70-200mm with a 1.4 converter, the sigma's AF is probably not as fast or as accurate for BIF shots, I lost a lot of in flight shots with the 150-500. of coarse the sigma has more reach, but If you find a situation where the Nikon is enough reach I would use it, it works just as good if not better then my 500mm F4 for BIF, as far as AF goes