FLIGHT SHOTS - what am I doing wrong?

[DOXHOPE]

You maybe correct..it has taken me a long time to get my eye in so to speak with bif shots, and Ive seen a lot of people blaming equipment rather than technique, I was lucky enough to speak to a semi-pro about it he had a look at the way I held, stood and shot..it was totally wrong, showed me some good tips and Ive felt Ive improved..
I did exactly what you have suggested, get used to the 300 first, then have a go with the tc.. shoot with it on my D300 which give it the same focal legth due to the crop factor as what I have when I put the 300 + tc on my D700..Im getting good result with both..its what suits you best. The tc is almost a permanent fixture at the moment on my 300mm. Im going photographing ospreys in July, I am taking a 400mm f2.8, the heavy one without vr, but hey, what glass..Im also taking the 300mm so may have some comparison shots to view..

[KentYeti]

Lovely shots!

With Tuesday and Wednesday currently shown as clear blue sky days, and hopefully with the Hobbys still at Stodmarsh in good numbers I may spend a half a session with the TC back on my Nikon f4 300mm to see if I have indeed started to progress a little over the last week. I've certainly had some good practice last week.

And so far as David is concerned, I hope these continued discussions help him. It is his thread after all!

But there are some good points emerging as the discussion continues.

Cheers,

Bryan

[David Hyde]

[quote=KentYeti;767126]Lovely shots!

And so far as David is concerned, I hope these continued discussions help him. It is his thread after all!

Thanks, it most certainly has. I have been following with great interest.
Work is keeping me busy at the moment, but having owned 500mm & 300mm fast lenses in the past, for me personally, I am happy with my lens choice. It is heartening to hear others using 300mm with no TC for flight shots. Can't wait for the next opportunity to try.
I am glad the thread has evoked interest.

Regards, David

[tom00_uk]

I seem to get the best images of sea birds on the wing when out on a boat as they can end up flying so close that they are to close for you to photo.



I would like to get a better lens so i can take images of terrestrial birds flying, but the funds dont presently allow

[Naturenutz]

I would usually agree with only trying flight shots in bright sunshine,however probably the best shots i have yet were swans taking off from a local lake on a dull day in april.The dull day appeared to make getting the correct exposure easier on a white bird with dull white clouds . I had to bump the iso up to the max i was happy to use, but still got great action pics with no noise.

[DOXHOPE]

I was on the Bass Rock last year photographing gannets, it was absolute bright sunshine, this did make the photographing of these white birds quite difficult without them blown out..

[pressld2]

Managed to get this one at Dunwich Heath last weekend...



...by the old "spray and pray" method. I took about 200 shots of these birds (or rather 200 shots of a blue sky with the occasional fuzzy brown blob in it) and this was it - the only keeper. Sheer luck and there are way better already in the Gallery but it'll do for now.

I'm sure that the trouble I have with in flight shots is mostly down to my technique, or lack of it, but I do think a faster focussing lens than the 80-400 would help. If I'm tracking a bird across the sky and lose focus then it takes way too long to get it back. But then, with better technique maybe I wouldn't lose the focus in the first place.

Dave P.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Managed to get this one at Dunwich Heath last weekend...



...by the old "spray and pray" method. I took about 200 shots of these birds (or rather 200 shots of a blue sky with the occasional fuzzy brown blob in it) and this was it - the only keeper. Sheer luck and there are way better already in the Gallery but it'll do for now.

I'm sure that the trouble I have with in flight shots is mostly down to my technique, or lack of it, but I do think a faster focussing lens than the 80-400 would help. If I'm tracking a bird across the sky and lose focus then it takes way too long to get it back. But then, with better technique maybe I wouldn't lose the focus in the first place.

Dave P.

Not only the lens Dave. One of the main advantages I've noticed with my 7D is the much improved focusing performance for birds in flight. With my 40D it was always the thing that annoyed me most. More often than I liked to remember the camera refused to lock onto a moving bird or keep the bird in focus, even if you've done your bit and got the focus point spot on.
This happens far less frequently with the 7D. Once locked it's possible to keep focus even if your not too hot at keeping the subject bang in the centre.

[pressld2]

Good point Graham. Obviously I'm using continuous AF but I tend to stick with the single point rather than the dynamic or auto settings. Dynamic is the one recommended for moving subjects but whenever I try it, it seems to lock focus on the background all the time. Not so much when the bird is against a clear sky but when flying in front of vegetation or over the sea, the only chance I have of focussing on the bird rather than the background is with single point AF.

Dave P.

[pressld2]

Sorry DOXHOPE but WAB does not allow external images in forum posts. The reason for this is highlighted by one of the images from your previous post which now looks like this...



Dave P.