Birds In Flight Advice

[sleipnerofasgard]

Someone put a link to a website about photographing birds in flight which gave me some good advice about not using just the single spot metering but using the variable one to give the camera a better chance of locking onto the subject but they didn,t say whether to have the camera set on auto or constant auto focus,if someone could help with the link and any other advice i would as usual greatly appreciate that

[glsammy]

Are you confusing your Focus settings for your metering ones?
If the bird is on it's own, I agree that having the focus point set to auto would give a better chance of locking onto the bird.
As for metering, I don't find it makes that much difference. If the bird is against a bright blue background, or even a bright grey one, remember to dial in some positive exposure compensation, or you'll end up with a lovely silhouette.
Have your Focus set to AI Servo, if your camera has this setting. This simply means the camera will constantly adjust the focus as the object moves.
Canon cameras use predictive AF when you have it set to auto focus. This means that when you first press the shutter it will check the centre focus point first, if the subject then moves from the centre, provided it remains in the focus point area, it will retain focus.

[sleipnerofasgard]

yes i am confusing them and my camera has constant auto focus,i assume that is the same thing

[matt_xyz]

yes, constant auto focus will be the same as AF servo. It simply means the focus remains active and will track a moving subject, rather than standard AF which locks the focus onto a subject but if the subject moves it then becomes out of focus.

Matt

[GerryNick2]

Originally Posted by glsammy

If the bird is against a bright blue background, or even a bright grey one, remember to dial in some positive exposure compensation, or you'll end up with a lovely silhouette.

An interesting point about the exposure compensation.

Had my first go at shooting birds in flight this year with my Canon 30d + EF100-400mm lens in El-Servo mode. Mixed results to date though. Shots taken in good light against a blue sky have been excellent but those taken in poorer lighting conditions have resulted in some very nice silhouettes but not what I wanted.

Must admit it never occured to me to allow for exposure compensation at the time.

Can you give a rough guide for how much compensation to allow as a starting point. I appreciate it can be a bit hit and miss.

Gerry

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by GerryNick2

An interesting point about the exposure compensation.

Had my first go at shooting birds in flight this year with my Canon 30d + EF100-400mm lens in El-Servo mode. Mixed results to date though. Shots taken in good light against a blue sky have been excellent but those taken in poorer lighting conditions have resulted in some very nice silhouettes but not what I wanted.

Must admit it never occured to me to allow for exposure compensation at the time.

Can you give a rough guide for how much compensation to allow as a starting point. I appreciate it can be a bit hit and miss.

Gerry

What I tend to do is point the camera to a neutral area, like some distant trees and take note of the shutter speed. Point to the sky, and see what it now reads. The chances are the shutter speed is way higher. So I dial in enough compensation to bring the speed back to around the same level as if you were shooting against the neutral background.
Remember it's the bird your interested in not the background. If the bird is too small for an accurate metering, I find that the best guide.

[eeyore]

that was me and yes sleiner is confusing spot mettering with focus points

what i said was to select all focus points (assuming you have more than 1)- assuming the background is not too confused - to give the AF a better chance of locking on.

In a seperate para i also said you should select spot or centre weighted metering to ensure the camera exposes for the subject not the sky , perhaps this is where the confusion arrose

and btw yep continuous focus is the same thing as AF servo - also reffered to as tracking AF , depending on what camera you have as different manufacturers use different terms.

[sleipnerofasgard]

Thanks eeyore that was the one i was thinking of,thought i'd dreamt it

[JeffH]

sleipnerofasgard,

If you've not already got a copy, may I suggest that you ask Pete (Eeyore) to send you a copy of his excellent and comprehensive notes on photographing birds in flight.

I'm sure if you ask him nicely and send him your e-mail address he'll oblige

Jeff

PS. I hope you don't mind me saying this Pete

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by JeffH

sleipnerofasgard,

If you've not already got a copy, may I suggest that you ask Pete (Eeyore) to send you a copy of his excellent and comprehensive notes on photographing birds in flight.

I'm sure if you ask him nicely and send him your e-mail address he'll oblige

Jeff

PS. I hope you don't mind me saying this Pete

thats what hes talking about jeff the website was words' who is kindly hosting my advice sheet there until stu can get it put up on wab or i get my own site.