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Now before I get flamed, I know these aren't wild and free, but I was looking for help from you bird shooters and thought I would get a little more exposure (pardon the pun) in here.
Let me set the scene.......
I am a jack of all trades where photography is concerned. I love to shoot animals and birds, as well as my kids - pretty much the same thing really, but I'm lazy. When I say that I mean I don't have the time to spend hours on end sitting in a field waiting for 'that' shot. As such I tend to shoot at places where I can take the kids, they will be entertained and I am guarranteed of some great opportunities. We spend a lot of time at Longleat and used to love the Hawk Conservancy bird shows there. They stopped doing those 2 years back, so I stopped shooting birds. Now I have decided to get off my bum and become a member of the 'Weyhill Hawk Conservancy', which is only 3 miles from my house - shame on me. Having visited a few times to get my feet under the table, it's time to talk to you guys about improving.
My gear.
I am very fortunate to have some nice kit.:
7d Mk2
1d MkIV
5d Mk3
300mm F2.8 IS (mk1)
70-200 Mk2 IS
Numerous other shorter lenses.
So what's going on? I enjoy the bird shows and come away with some reasonable stuff, but would love some tips to improve my hit rate and also on shooting the kites which fly above head, against dull clouds, or clear skies.
How do I shoot?
Modes.
Often in AV, but trying to go away from this as the results vary so much when the bird moves from clear skies, to tree or grassy backgrounds. So now I am trying to shoot in full manual mode. When doing this I expose off the sky by around + 2 and adjust where necessary as conditions change.
Shutter speed
Always over 1/1000th. At least that is the plan.
F stop.
Varies. For bigger close up birds I try to go up near to F8, as I have been caught out when the camera focuses on the wing tips in the past
ISO.
Whatever I need to achieve the above, but generally always 400 and above.
Focus.
I vary very much between modes. Either going for cross type 4 spots, 9 spots, or periodically trying centre spot only.
I always BBF
Processing.
I use Lightroom 5. I am ok with it, but by no means an expert.
Where do I want to improve? My hit rate isn't high enough. Often I will look at shoots through the view finder and think they will turn out well, but they are a little off. Not quite tack sharp. Also the exposure thing I struggle with, especially when the birds are flying against a clear or grey sky.
Any hints, tips, links to helpful sites, suggestions, would be very much appreciated.
Oh and a couple of recent images.
1.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on Flickr
2.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on Flickr
3.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on Flickr
I'll post some kite shots shortly.
Let me set the scene.......
I am a jack of all trades where photography is concerned. I love to shoot animals and birds, as well as my kids - pretty much the same thing really, but I'm lazy. When I say that I mean I don't have the time to spend hours on end sitting in a field waiting for 'that' shot. As such I tend to shoot at places where I can take the kids, they will be entertained and I am guarranteed of some great opportunities. We spend a lot of time at Longleat and used to love the Hawk Conservancy bird shows there. They stopped doing those 2 years back, so I stopped shooting birds. Now I have decided to get off my bum and become a member of the 'Weyhill Hawk Conservancy', which is only 3 miles from my house - shame on me. Having visited a few times to get my feet under the table, it's time to talk to you guys about improving.
My gear.
I am very fortunate to have some nice kit.:
7d Mk2
1d MkIV
5d Mk3
300mm F2.8 IS (mk1)
70-200 Mk2 IS
Numerous other shorter lenses.
So what's going on? I enjoy the bird shows and come away with some reasonable stuff, but would love some tips to improve my hit rate and also on shooting the kites which fly above head, against dull clouds, or clear skies.
How do I shoot?
Modes.
Often in AV, but trying to go away from this as the results vary so much when the bird moves from clear skies, to tree or grassy backgrounds. So now I am trying to shoot in full manual mode. When doing this I expose off the sky by around + 2 and adjust where necessary as conditions change.
Shutter speed
Always over 1/1000th. At least that is the plan.
F stop.
Varies. For bigger close up birds I try to go up near to F8, as I have been caught out when the camera focuses on the wing tips in the past
ISO.
Whatever I need to achieve the above, but generally always 400 and above.
Focus.
I vary very much between modes. Either going for cross type 4 spots, 9 spots, or periodically trying centre spot only.
I always BBF
Processing.
I use Lightroom 5. I am ok with it, but by no means an expert.
Where do I want to improve? My hit rate isn't high enough. Often I will look at shoots through the view finder and think they will turn out well, but they are a little off. Not quite tack sharp. Also the exposure thing I struggle with, especially when the birds are flying against a clear or grey sky.
Any hints, tips, links to helpful sites, suggestions, would be very much appreciated.
Oh and a couple of recent images.
1.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on Flickr2.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on Flickr3.
Fishing Eagle by Gary Kinghorn, on FlickrI'll post some kite shots shortly.
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