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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Bird In Flight Show and Tell

Mike Spinak

pro member
In recent threads, Bev Sampson and John Nevill have both displayed lovely photos of birds in flight. Though Art Morris hasn't shown any bird in flight photos yet on OPF threads, he also has lots of 'em. I'm hoping we can get a thread rolling for displaying and discussing lots of bird in flight photos.

Please, let's try to do the following:

1) Discuss what you show, so that we can all learn from each other's techniques and ideas;

2) Post only one picture per post, or one related series per post, in order to minimize confusion.

Like this:



U4962_forstersternwfish.jpg


Forster's tern with fish.

This picture was taken with an aperture of f/5.6, at 1/1,250 of a second, at ISO 250, with a Canon 1Ds Mark 2, a Canon 300 f/4 IS lens, and a 1.4 teleconverter, hand-held.

This shot was the result of assessing the situation, understanding what was going on, and developing an effective strategy. In this case, there was a major Forster's tern rookery, on an island just a little ways (less than 100 feet) offshore. There is also a lake, where the terns fish. When the tern's chicks got to be an age that requires very frequent feeding, I stood on a high embankment, directly in the path between the lake where the terns fish, and the rookery, where they were bringing the fish to feed their young. Terns were flying overhead, within about a 50 yard wide swath, with fish dangling from their mouths, every few minutes. I stayed and photographed until I got the shots I had wanted.

Let's see your bird in flight shots, and hear the stories of how you got them.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I'm happy you initiated this thoughtful thread. We need to provide a reference for what we do and a goal of excellence. So lets get the best pictures here. Then we can have critique:

Reactions: feelings, thoughts, ideas, relationship to art of other matters. Don't need a degree, just good things first!

Asher
 

Bev Sampson

New member
Wonderful photo, Mike and hand held at that, amazing. I love flying bird photos when the wings are fully open.

Your camera settings are pretty close to my settings in full sun. I usually shoot at F8, 1/1000 to 1250, ISO 200 depending on cloud movement when the shutter could go slower.

Hope we see a lot more flying bird posts in this new thread.

Bev
 

John_Nevill

New member
I'd like to repost this if I may and share its conception, technique etc.

Grey Herons.jpg


It was taken late in the day and was predominantly backlit. The longest lens I own is an EF 300 and I used it with a 1.4 TC. ISO was set at 400, aperture f5.6, shutter 1/400s and spot metering used (off the heron).

A few colleagues were also out on the shoot and they used EF500 +1.4TCs, so being restricted in focal length, I decided to put the bird in its environment. I used AI servo and centre AF spot with the CF4 set for back button, for better focus control.

The herons come into feed in groups and it was quite easy to watch and predict where they were coming / going. I wanted to isolate the bird in flight from the main group and the wider aperture helped.

The original RAW was quite pale and for the first time I decided to use Lightroom to post process. I left the white balance as shot and increased the black level (25) to put some darker detail in the wings and trees. I then increased the overall contrast to 35 to take help lose the backlit haze and finally added some vibrance (+20) to emphasise the early evening colour.

My wife thinks it has a outback bush feel to it.

I setttled on a 16:9 crop mainly to put the bird in the 1/3rd, give it some space to fly into and show more of the out of focus group behind.

Unfortunately the 800 wide jpeg loses a lot of detail as its pretty much full frame width. Hence I'll be printing it on A3 Lyson Pro Satin and framing it in an ivory mount.
 

Mike Spinak

pro member
Hi, Bev,

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoy it.

There are a lot of factors that influence the settings I use for photographing birds. Besides clear skies or cloudy skies (or, simply, the area in the sky where the bird is when I photograph it), the brightness or darkness of the bird is also a consideration. You'll need more exposure to get feather detail in a double crested cormorant than in a snowy egret, in the same lighting conditions. However, probably the largest consideration is the size of the bird. Larger birds, such as brown pelicans, great egrets, great blue herons, etc., usually require apertures of f/8 or smaller (bigger number), if trying to get the entire bird within the depth of field. Smaller birds don't require as small of apertures to get the full bird within the depth of field, but the smaller birds flap their wings much faster, and move across the sky faster... so, for a smaller bird, I will open up the aperture, since I don't need the DOF, to be able to get a faster shutter speed and freeze the motion (if I'm tring to freeze the motion).

Mike

www.mikespinak.com
 

Bev Sampson

New member
Mike, can we also post perched birds or birds not flying, wading, fishing, in nests, sitting in trees? I have a more flying birds that I will post at a later time.

Bev
 

Mike Spinak

pro member
Bev,

I would prefer that this thread remain specifically on the topic of birds in flight.

If you would like to start a new thread about perched birds and/or wading, etc., it would be most welcome. Alternatively, if you would like for me to start one, I'd be glad to do so; just ask.

Cheers,

Mike
 

Don Lashier

New member
I'll add a couple:

Seagull, Canon 1D, 70-200f4 at 200mm, 1/1000, f9, ISO 200 handheld. There's a good seagull shooting spot on a headland near here where the seagulls like to sore on the updrafts so get very close, seagull after seagull gliding by.

E74D2167-800.jpg


- DL
 
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Don Lashier

New member
and the second:
Sunset Heron, Canon 1D, 300f4IS+1.3TC, 1/160, f5.6, ISO 200, handheld panning with the bird. Shot was V because I was just shooting this bird wading when he took off, cropped full H.

031112-022599-1h-800.jpg


- DL
 
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Mary Bull

New member
Don Lashier said:
I'll add a couple:

Seagull, Canon 1D, 70-200f4 at 200mm, 1/1000, f9, ISO 200 handheld. There's a good seagull shooting spot on a headland near here where the seagulls like to sore on the updrafts so get very close, seagull after seagull gliding by.
Very fine picture, Don. Brings up seagull memories of my own. They were quite frequently in the sky over the field just across the back alley of my childhood home. We lived on the last street in town, and that field covered hundreds of acres--milo maize was planted there in alternate years with cotton. We were 8 miles, as the seagull flies,from the cliffs that bordered Corpus Christi Bay on the north.

And of course I saw them often over Corpus Christi Bay. I like the way you caught the outstretched legs.

Mary
 

Mary Bull

New member
Don Lashier said:
and the second:
Sunset Heron, Canon 1D, 300f4IS+1.3TC, 1/160, f5.6, ISO 200, handheld panning with the bird. Shot was V because I was just shooting this bird wading when he took off, cropped full H.
Lovely colors. And again, the outstretched legs, even better here, because they are so long and black.

I am enjoying all these birds in flight pictures so very much.

Mary
 

Bev Sampson

New member
Don, both photos are outstanding. I like to see detail in the birds and your gull photo definitely has detail. It is a very sharp photo.

The great white is also wonderful. Again, I love the warmth. Also, it shows the motion in the wings while the head and bill are very sharp. Very nice.

Bev
 

John_Nevill

New member
Bev Sampson said:
John, your heron photo is just great. I love the warmth that it protrays. The focus is tack sharp.

Bev

Thanks Bev, I had a sneak preview of your galleries on pbase and they remind me of my trip to Florida last year. I must get back there!
 

Mike Spinak

pro member
John,

I like the position of the heron in your shot. Fairly large birds usually need to crouch and jump into the air (by the way, the "crouch" is a good way to anticipate take-off), and then flap with several exceptionally broad, heavy wing flaps to get going. Your picture show the position of the feet right after the "jump", with the wings wide-open as it tries to lift itself into the air... you show it well, and it shows beauty in the elegance of the bird's lines. The gentle backlighting, brings definition to the detail in the wing feathers... lovely. Putting this heron in its environment also adds interest for me, in this particular case, because, at least around here, I never see fields full of herons on the ground.

Mike
 
Great idea for a thread, Mike. And some wonderful flight shots from all.

The image below is the first I've posted publicly from a recent trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Swallowtail Gull:

1D2_03294.jpg



Shooting Specs: Canon 1DMk2, 100-400L/f4.5-5.6 IS at 210mm, f/10, 1/2000, ISO 400, Manual Exposure, Handheld.

In almost all situations, I prefer shooting in Manual Exposure. If you're an Av, for example, shooting a white bird like this in flight, your exposure can vary dramatically depending on what is in the background behind the bird. As long as the bird is in the light that I've metered for, it will be well-exposed, regardless of the background. And I prefer to err on the side of under-exposure with a white bird like this, in strong sunshine, to maintain highlight detail. I think I overdid it a tad, or the light was changing (I don't recall right now), as the original Raw file was perhaps underexposed by 2/3 of a stop. But post-processing in Capture One and PSCS2 gave me very satisfactory results.

Another thought here is the "luck favors the prepared." I had no idea one of these beautiful gulls would be crossing my path with a chunk of something (it looks like stone, but I'm not sure) in its mouth! I didn't discover this until I reviewed the images later in the day!

In "nit-picking" mode, I would have preferred to have the wing-tips not cut-off (this image is not cropped), but hopefully the stronger features of this image will outweigh this short-coming.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hi Don,

Anyone interesting shot and methodology. Re wing tips, why not repair them with tips from other pictures?

Who knows why this bird is carrying the rock? I know gulls drop crabs to break the shells. Could it be that they use the rocks for building or to scare off predators?

Asher
 

Bev Sampson

New member
Don, what an awesome photo of a swallowtail gull. The detail is outstanding.

I agree with shooting in manual exposure mode because I find that my 1DMKII blows out whites if I am not careful and as you point out a little under exposure is safe.

Bev
 

Don Lashier

New member
Don Cohen said:
In "nit-picking" mode, I would have preferred to have the wing-tips not cut-off (this image is not cropped), but hopefully the stronger features of this image will outweigh this short-coming.

Great image Don. AFA the wingtips, perhaps just crop a bit (at least the top) so that it looks intentional.

- DL
 
Thanks to all for the kind words.

Asher said:
Re wing tips, why not repair them with tips from other pictures?

I've done this on rare occasion for other images, but don't have any other images close enough to this to make it work.

Don Lashier said:
AFA the wingtips, perhaps just crop a bit (at least the top) so that it looks intentional.

Interesting suggestion. I'll keep it in mind as I prepare images for posting on my website.


More flight images, please!
 

Ron Morse

New member
While not as good as the others I can offer this.

mg28720gr6.jpg


20D - 400mm - f13 - 1/640 - ISO 200 hand held.

Somehow the more I learn the less I find that I know.
 

Don Lashier

New member
Mary Bull said:
Very fine picture, Don. Brings up seagull memories of my own. They were quite frequently in the sky over the field just across the back alley of my childhood home. We lived on the last street in town, and that field covered hundreds of acres--milo maize was planted there in alternate years with cotton.
Thanks Mary,

Needless to say, living at the coast I have literally thousands of seagull photos.

> We were 8 miles, as the seagull flies,from the cliffs that bordered Corpus Christi Bay on the north.

Contrary to popular believe, seagulls often range far inland. I spend a couple years in the California desert separated from the coast by two 10,000 ft plus mountain ranges (Sierra Nevada and Inyo) and it was not uncommon to see seagulls.

- DL
 

Don Lashier

New member
Bev Sampson said:
Don, both photos are outstanding. I like to see detail in the birds and your gull photo definitely has detail. It is a very sharp photo.
Thanks Bev, that's the benefit of the 70-200 (my sharpest lens) and high shutter speed - no tripod or IS required! Although I have to say that a gliding bird is much easier than a "flapping" bird. Even 1/1000 isn't enough to stop vigorous wing motion as in a gull landing.
The great white is also wonderful. Again, I love the warmth. Also, it shows the motion in the wings while the head and bill are very sharp. Very nice.
The warmth was the natural result of sunset light - no tweaking necessary. The wing motion was the unintended result of slow shutter speed for low light. I was pushing the limits of handholding/panning at 420mm at 160th wide open and lucked out on this one. Interesting thing about herons is the neck - both walking and flying they will reverse from the S curve like this example to fully extended. Wish I was that flexible.

- DL
 
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Ron Morse said:
While not as good as the others I can offer this.

Thanks for contributing to this thread. Looks like you got good focus here, with the eye appearing sharp, and I do like the wing spread. I'm not bothered by the wing tips being blurred - this will often convey a sense of action/movement, giving a more 'dynamic' feel.

As a general comment, flight shots are tough, and the conditions where you're shooting will often be working for you, or (more often, it seems to me) against you! Specifically, to get the underside of the wings/body with some light and detail, they need to be taken with the sun at a low angle, meaning early morning or late afternoon. Or sometimes having it fly over a reflective terrain will throw some light there at other times of day.

And having both the sun and wind coming from behind you will help in a big way. Birds will fly slower when moving into the wind, giving you more time to shoot them, and typically take off and land into the wind as well, creating other shooting opportunities. And obviously having them face the camera is often (but not always) desireable.

Somehow the more I learn the less I find that I know.

I love your signature, and definitely agree with it!
 

Mike Spinak

pro member
Lots of great shots, so far. Thanks, everyone, for participating.



Here's another one of my bird in flight shots:

U7101_redtailhawkjuvflying.jpg


Juvenile Red Tailed Hawk Flying

© Mike Spinak

1/800th of a second, f/8, ISO 250, 300 mm f/4 IS lens, with 1.4x teleconverter, on a 1Ds Mark 2, handheld.

This picture is another case of analysis and strategy. It had become apparent that the boom-bust population cycles of the local rodents had coincided in such manner as to make a vastly larger than usual rodent population. This, in turn, lead to a large influx of raptors, and I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity to photograph them.

Raptors like to minimize their energy expenditure by flapping their wings as little as possible, while soaring, surveying the ground for rodents to prey upon. Stiff, constant breezes make this possible. I sought out a prime area, for both stiff, constant updrafts, and large rodent populations, to get hawk pictures. I went to the aptly named Windy Hill, and looked for a spot where two small hills along the ridgeline met, with a notch between them. Sure enough, there was a constant, stiff updraft coming through the notch, over the ridge, and there was a young red tailed hawk, hovering perfectly still on the breeze, surveying the ground for rodents. I walked up under it, and took this picture.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
One word: brilliant!

You should be in charge of finding wanted criminals! They'd not have a chance!

Asher
 

Steve Fines

New member
Hello,

A few diffferent takes on BIF.

I'm not a big fan of clipping bird parts. Sometimes I include the setting, sometimes just isolate the bird - it depends.

First one is just begging to be in a Bud Light football commercial, but they haven't called me yet. :lol:

_MG_0581_adj_web.jpg


_G2L0350_adj_web.jpg


pic1-1.jpg
 
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