Photographing Kites and Buzzards

[Pete Collins]

I am new to photography, and would like some advice please. I have a Panasonic FZ18, a 'bridge' camera with an 18x zoom, which I bought as it's light enough to carry on my long walks in the countryside and the zoom should enable be to take photos of the wildlife I see on my walks (I got a nice shot of a Fallow deer yesterday).

I would very much like to take photos of Red Kites and Buzzards, and I know I'll have plenty of chances of seeing them in the next couple of weeks or so as I'll be walking in a part of the Chilterns where they are very common.

What camera settings would you suggest I use? On my walk yesterday I used 'Shutter priority' mode, with the speed set to 1/500. I also used 'burst mode', giving me 4 shots at 3 per second. I'm not sure how much faster I can set the shutter speed - it goes up to 1/2000, but varies depending on the zoom level (I'll almost certainly have to use the full range of the zoom).

This was probably the best of my Red Kite photos from yesterday (I've used Picasa to crop and sharpen it). I think I need to use a faster shutter speed than 1/500. The ungainly pose is because the bird took off just as I was trying to photo it. The shot was taken hand-held (I have no intention of carrying my tripod on my 12-15 mile walks!).

Red Kite

I'd like to thank big bill, eeyore and glsammy - I've taken their advice from other threads and have been using 'Aperture priority' mode with an aperture of f5.6 when taking bird photos in the garden. This Blue Tit is probably my best photo taken there so far. It was taken from about 12-15 feet away, using a tripod.

Blue Tit

[glsammy]

I wouldn't recommend you change from AV mode. I never do, at least not whilst I'm shooting bird shots.
The one thing you should watch out for is exposure compensation. Once you point the camera up towards the sky, you'll see your shutter speed rocket upwards. This is fine if you fancy a lovely blue sky, but not so good if you want a shot of bird that's more than a silhouette. When your around the area you want to get the Kites, check what shutter speed your camera is offering when pointing at something neutral, such as a block of trees. Then point the camera up to the sky, you'll see the shutter speed has risen usually by a huge amount. To compensate for this you need to apply some positive exposure compensation. How much will depend how bright the sky is, but you'll want to aim to bring the shutter speed back down to around the area when you pointed it at the neutral background. The actual shutter speed needed often isn't that high, Kites are often just floating on a rising current, and aren't moving that fast.

For instance, this one was only 1/500sec:



I didn't have to apply positive compensation for this one, in fact the opposite as the bird was against a neutral background.

Good luck with it, I hope you get some crackers!

[Pete Collins]

Thanks very much for that, Graham.

I do have quite a number of silhouette shots! I've already found out how to set exposure compensation on my camera, as I experimented with it on a very bright day when I was in the garden. So I'll give that a go - hopefully, I should see some Kites tomorrow as I'm walking in the Hambleden valley which is just about the best place I know for seeing them. There's usually a Buzzard or two about as well.

Thanks again for the advice.

[peterjclarke]

Pete, Graham is spot on with the advice. most bird photographers nearly always use Av mode and I dial in compensation from my knowledge of tonality and the odd test shot and histogram check.

[Pete Collins]

Thanks Peter - I'll have to re-read about using the histogram in my manual, as I've not used that feature yet.

[Chris_Johnstone]

Hey Pete,

I have photographed Kites at Gigrin in Wales and Bally Mack farm, Dumfries and Galloway. A couple of examples are on my site. Both places are feeding stations and offer great chances to shoot. I recommend using Aperture Priority also. If the light is good, you'll be rewarded with fast enough shutter speeds to make the shot. If the light is poor, the light is poor, enough said. Just keep your focus point over the bird's eye and you should come away with some nice shots.

Good Luck,

Chris

[Pete Collins]

Thanks Chris. I've read lots of reports and seen plenty of photos from Gigrin here on WAB, I'd love to go there someday.

I had a great walk on Wednesday, saw lots of Kites and several Buzzards, but unfortunately the weather was against me as far as photography was concerned - it was foggy or misty in the morning, and still very grey and gloomy in the afternoon, so I didn't take any bird photos at all. I hope to have another chance soon though, as I've a few more walks planned at that end of the Chilterns where the Red Kites are common.

[Hobjob]

Another way of overcoming the dominant light problem of birds against
the sky is to take the reading against a neutral background, as suggested by Graham, and then dial that in and use manual. This gets away with not having to put in the exposure compensation when actually shooting.

But I never manage as well as you did for the Red Kite

[VinceS]

I have been to Gigrin on a number of occassions and can highly recommend the experience. As well as Kites at close range there were Raven & Buzzard, excellent for comparison and photography.

Vince

[richardkm]

It's also worth looking for that different shot. Gigrin's a terrific place, but to get the best photos, stay in the hide when the public have gone, sit at the back of the hide and watch the birds come closer and closer.

Here's one I did earlier: