Birds in Flight... Part 2

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Well, best to get some basics on how to set up your camera. I do not know all the settings on so many different bodies now being made, and all the different manufactures. I can only generalize. The main settings you need to work with are the AF (auto focus).

Years ago, it would take tremendous talent to catch a good BIF (bird in flight), trying to keep up with a bird flying and no auto focus!! I can't imagine. Since we now have amazing auto focus on all DSLR's, we can track some of the fastest flying birds with some practise.

I set my main AF switch located out side my camera to AFC, which means it is programed to look for and follow continuously moving subjects. Next, for most BIF shooting, I like to use the single sensor, and leave it in the center of the frame.

The 9, 21, 24, 52, point systems are good for birds against a clean background, like a blue sky. But for busier backgrounds , you need to lock on the subject only with single sensor.. such as on the top of the water when a bird is flying by, multi-sensors will pick up on the harsh contrast of the ripples.

My camera also has a feature that controls how long the AF locks onto a subject, in case another object comes into the focus and creates a distraction to the sensors.. AF Lock is set to "short".

Most long lenses have a "limiter" switch, which controls the distance range the lens will search during an attempt to get a lock on your subject. You need to block out any close ranges for the lens, and allow it to concentrate on focusing on only distant subjects.

More tips coming in Part 3, sometime next week.

Birds in Flight... Part 1

One of the finer techniques of bird photography is commonly referred to as the bif (Bird in Flight). It seems to be one of the most difficult things to learn. I always compare this style of photography to golf, as once you have a "great shot", it keeps you coming back for more!

This bif thing starts with a good camera body and lens. Your equipment doesn't need to cost you more then a brand new vehicle, or a down payment on a house... but a good DSLR and fast focusing lens is a must. Personally I think you can purchase a good system for bifs for less then $3,000.

Look for a high frame rate body.. 5 fps is good, more is better! A lens that is fast, and quick to focus is also a big help. I would say at least 300mm would be a great start for a bif lens, 400mm is probably better. High end cameras and lenses do have their advantages, but with a price!

For support, hand held is the way to go for good bif shooting... hopefully your lens is not too heavy, and you can hold it up and move it around to follow a fast moving bird while it is in the air. For distant birds, a 500-600mm lens is great and a tripod is more useful. A bird that is flying 80-200 yards away is easier to track with a long lens and tripod. The closer these flyer's are to you, the harder it is to keep them in the frame.

Everything depends on the situation, every shooting experience is different. One needs to have a versatile equipment collection to accommodate various locations, birds, light, and timidness of the birds. If your out shooting ducks in flight at a local pond where the birds will fly by you within 30-60 feet, a 300mm f4, or f2.8 is a great lens. If your trying to catch a speedy swallow or songbird that won't come in to close, a 400mm lens will give you the reach. I use a zoom lens which helps me with many different bif opportunities.

In the next post, I will discuss settings for your camera, and some basics for capturing good birds in flight images.

Please take some time to visit the new magazine I recently created... Nature Images Online Magazine

Take care.

Low light and Long Lens Shooting

Recently, I have been captivated by a Green Heron in a swamp near St. Catharines Ontario, Canada. Up here we call the little buggers "Greenies!" and they are not an easy shoot!

They hang around in swampy areas, along the edges and overhanging trees., looking for an easy grab as many fish feed near the surface, along with frogs and tadpoles. I think they are hard to find and shoot, because the food is abundant, and they spend a lot of their time during the day sleeping. What a life!

No bills, no TV to watch, they do not have sports, or vehicles to fix! I have never seen a nest, but that would be something!

For this shooting a tripod is a must., and also, I found that setting the tripod up at its lowest settings provided a more solid base, as I was sitting down low on the path. Using the 200-400 with teleconverters.. the 1.4 tc, and 1.7tc gives this lens some strong magnification. the slightest vibration and your cooked!

I was using higher f-stops to keep a good depth-of-field, and this helps with keeping the images sharp with tc's. With the D300, you can use "mirror lock up", and with the 10 pin remote, you can fire the frame without touching the camera., minimizing vibration.

A green heron is a fantastic bird to practice with... it sits very still, and provides some awesome poses while it hunts. Unfortunately, this bird has been found about 1 in 6 trips to this location... so it is really a matter of luck.

Thanks for reading, the images may be viewed by clicking on them, and using your back button to return.

take care, Ray Barlow.

Harsh Light! by Ray Barlow

First off, I would like to thank all the recent contributors to this site, as things are now, we are all doing this for nothing. I hope to have many new photographers posting new articles soon, so please check back when you can, and let me know if you have any feedback...

ray@raymondbarlow.com

I hope to develop this site and increase traffic to help support all the work that goes into it., so please forward the link to your friends, and help us out.

Last week we had one of the summer time bright "sunny 16" days here in southern Ontario, and I usually just find other things to do, as the harsh light really doesn't do much for me. On this day, I felt some shooting energy, so my friend Malcolm Benn and I headed to a local swamp.

On a hot sunny day, the birds usually hide in the shade and sleep., but this very confident Great Blue Heron came over for a visit just as we were about to leave. I missed all the flight shot, but we did have some fun trying to get some perched shots after it had landed.

I shoot aperture priority, and watch the histogram, and the highlight "blinkes" on the monitor. Most of my shots during this shoot were taken with -1 to -1 1/3 under exposure. Looking at them in the sun, on the camera monitor, I figured they were all junk, but after having a look at these images at home and using ACR for the Raw conversion, I think I was able to salvage a few respectable images.

The dynamic range on the D300 seems to save these shots... with bright highlights, and dark backgrounds, the camera is able to find a nice tonal balance and produce nice images.

So keep shooting, and have fun!

Red-tailed Hawk Photography

Anyone who lives in southern Ontario knows about the amazing road side views of the Red-tailed hawks... as a child, I would see these birds resting on the top of telephone poles while on drives through the country with my father.

(Click on the images for a full size view)

I told him I wanted to get some pictures of these great birds, and he laughed... "never!" he said. Well my sense of determination took me to these hawks later in life, and photographing them is sure a challenge!

Starting in mid-October, through to spring you will find a red-tailed along most major highways and service roads locally.. many are between Hamilton and St. Catharines Ontario along the service roads of the QEW Highway.

The nice thing about winter shooting here, is that the sun is low in the sky all day long, so harsh light is not usually an issue. And the snow is your friend! When a bird is flying low and the sunlight is reflected up from the snow, the under-side of the bird has some great natural light.


Everyone complains about how skittish these birds are, and in my up-coming book I will share some details on how I approach these birds, and get them to pose for me. One trick is to find a first year bird. They seem much less fearsome, and I have often got into 15 feet from them while they are perched.

Still, one of my favourite birds to photograph, as I often spend 4-7 hours on the road trying to get the perfect shot! Still looking too!

In Here is my gallery of Red-tailed images.., more to come this fall.

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Foot Note: I have just added a logo / link to a great camera store where I have purchased all of my equipment. Camtech is owned by Roger Burrough, his store is located on Hamilton Mountain in Southern Ontario, Canada. Roger and his team provide an excellent service, and I highly recommend you give them a call for all your equipment and service needs.

In the Heat of the Battle!

Once in a while, we are out there and something extraordinary happens. A few weeks ago I was hanging around the lakeside park here in Grimsby, Ontario... and a Common Tern was able to snag a large dinner.

The Tern wanted desperately to get the food down on the pier and share it with its young, but this particular gull would always get in the way... a battle was on!!

The tern and the gull circled for at least five minutes until at last, the gull finally snatched the meal form the terns beak.... then another stage of the battle!!

This one didn't last long, the gull quickly devoured the food, and the tern did what it could to ward off the larger opponent. Some kicking and biting, and the gull made off like a bandit!

Tracking and firing frames at these birds was good fun, all hand held, and about 150 shots! My shoulders were sore, and my concentration exhausted, but it was worth the effort. Using the continuous AF focusing, with 9 point matrix, a low ISO, and wide open aperture, there was enough depth of field to get the birds in focus, and enough shutter speed to freeze the action.

Here are the techs from this shot... 1/2500s f/4.0 at 400.0mm ISO250.

Please do me a favour and let me know if your having any trouble viewing this blog., and thanks for stopping by! take good care.

ps.. I did cut off the lower part of the Gulls wing., so I added canvas and recreated the wing extension in photoshop.

Have you ever....

had a monkey pee on you>>??? How lucky can a guy get!!

While in Costa Rica 2 years ago one of the nice gentlemen at the resort ran over and told me of this family of monkeys had moved into some local trees for feeding.

For sure, we (me and the camera rig) ran over to check things out, and sure enough, about 10 monkeys hanging around this very large tree.

I am not sure if I annoyed this animal, or he didn't like the sight of me, but while I was checking exposures and reviewing images on the camera monitor, I felt some drops hit the top of my head, starting to run down my face!! A feeling I won't soon forget!

Before the torrential downpour came, I was able to jump out of the line of flight, but not before my hair, face, and camera were soaked! Too funny!!! I hustled to the condo, a quick shower and was ready to go down there and shoot some more, but they had left...Little buggers!

Anyhow, I figured you all could use a good Canada Day smile, and I hope you will return for the next story very soon. Anyone interested in contributing to this blog, please contact me at ray@raymondbarlow.com

have a great holiday Canada!