Photography tips

[jennyb]

Hi,

I mentioned in one of the other forums that I am currently cataloguing and photographing all the wildlife in my garden. I don't know a lot about photography but I can usually get decent shots when the subject is relatively close by and not moving much!

There are some stunning photographs on this web site of birds in flight and I wondered if anyone can give me some tips on photographing birds in flight?

We regularly have a couple of buzzards and some red kites fly overhead and I have no idea how to start photographing them.

Any tips would be welcome.

Thanks,

Jenny

[nightshade]

Good luck with your idea, I will follow with interest

[Helen]

Hi Jenny

Birds in flight are probably the most difficult of shots to get. Practice, practice and more practice! What equipment are you using? A decent lens is ideal for this type of photography, and shooting off a burst of shots in quick succession also helps, as a lot of images can be wasted on flight photography, with you taking a pic of just the wing and/or blue sky!

It's quite difficult to get full detail of a bird in flight, unless the light conditions are good. Best times, are when the sun is low in the sky, so that more detail of the bird is shown.

[Helen]

Another thing I do, is, depending on the light conditions, I tend to underexpose red kite shots when set against a bright blue background, and the image is of the underparts of a kite. The reason being the white patches on the wing tend to over-expose, and you can't usually do anything to salavage that. I do the same when photograhing very pale buzzards too.

[nightshade]

I do not have a Weston meter ,but I seem to remember that there is one f-stop difference between the front and back of the hand and something similar with the two sides of a sheet of brown paper.
Sometimes useful in pre-setting the exposure, as you say, for birds against a bright sky

[jennyb]

Many thanks for these suggestions. They make a lot of sense.

I am not much of a photographer but I have a couple of cameras. One is an old SLR for which I have 3 lenses. The other is a newer digital camera - just a small Casio which is great for photos of wild flowers and fungus (nice and stationary!), but not so good for birds.

I guess that it is cheaper to practise shooting the birds in flight using the digital otherwise I could go through reams of film!

Thanks for all your help. I will let you know if I have any success.

Jenny

[Tragus]

Hi Jenny,
I have the same problem as you, my photos are all of static birds and most of those are dodgy!! I's nice to know that I'm not the only one having problems with photography
I've just visited your 'english-country-garden' site and it's a wonderful site. Well done you and thanks for giving us the chance to visit!
Jo

[nightshade]

Arethere no hints or tips inthe photography section?

[jennyb]

Tragus,

Glad you liked my site. I really underestimated the work required when I started it.

One day I decided to count the number of different species of bird that I had ever seen in the garden and the total came to more than 30! I was amazed so thought I should try to photograph them and research them a bit. The next step was to put them onto a web site to share with others.

However, I thought why should I stop at birds - there are lots of animals, flowers, wild and cultivated, trees, insects and even fungi. I have now added 45 (and counting), species of wildflower over 30 cultivated ones (including shrubs). The more I looked, the more I found!

I have hardly started the insects yet - I guess that will be a huge job.

One of the most amazing things are the fungi - I have identified 14 so far and have a similar number that I have yet to identify but that is a really difficult job.

I still have a lot to do - I would like to do a pond life section and also a seasons section - but I am still waiting for some snow for that one!

Anyway, glad you appreciated it and keep visiting because I add things every week.

Jenny

[jennyb]

Nightshade,

I did not realise there was a photography section - there is so much on this site that I guess I have not seen it all yet.

I will look there for some help as well.

Jenny

[nightshade]

before you photograph plants and fungi make some notes for later,include a scale(50p coin or 62 rule,matchbox) anythig to make identification easier,
if you go back it may be gone
Try a reflector or two