Pelican in flight

[Udai Bisht]

Clicked this one from a boat in Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.

450D
100-400mm L IS USM
f/9
1/1250
Exposure Program: Shutter Priority
ISO - 200

Is the exposure OK?

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Hi Uday

A few things that i notice, which Saby, Ranbir and other experts can comment on . . . .

the Apreture could have been around the 6 mark (i used to be one of the dreaded F11 auto apreture demons - until these experts corrected me)

second, what AF mode are you on ? Somehow get a feeling that the image could have been sharper - considering the high shutter speed, there seems to be lack of wing sharpness (if you see Saby's pelican take off picture, at 1/800 the wing tips are quite sharp) and hence my observation.

Maybe you were on IS off mode ?

BTW, when were you in Ranganathittu ?

regards

Rajan

[Udai Bisht]

Thanks Rajan for your comments.

Now that you have pointed out I too feel the image could have been sharper. In fact to get a sharp image I had selected Shutter Priority and kept the shutter speed at 1/1250. (Had read somewhere that to capture sharp in flight shots the min speed should be around 1/1000). I was using the central AF point and AI SERVO AF mode, The IS in the lens was set at Mode 2.

I guess the lack of sharpness could be due to my unfamiliarity with the lens. This was my first trip with this lens around 15 Feb. Prior to this I was using EFS 55-250 which was pretty light in comparison.

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

Lovely image Udai . Great wing position, lovely light !
Your focus was on the wings , and hence the wings are fairly sharp , but not the head .
For flight photography , since it woule be fairly bright , you should choose higher ISOs than choosing shutter speed .
Aperture Priority , ISO around 640-800 , and focus on the eye ( Arjun) should be the aim . You will come out with some great winners .

[Ranbir Mahapatra]

Udai.

My very first birding was at Ranganathittu! :-)

I have some very fond memories of the place. The birds at Ranganathittu are so used to humans that you can approach them to less than 10-15 feet at times. I could easily fill the frames with my 18-55 lens! Though the place opens at 8:00am, I went in at around 7:00am last time. Had to really request the guy for a ride though.

Talking for sharpness, an image is sharp when the shutter speed is 1/focal length. Hence if the focal length of your lens is 400mm, then its better to have the shutter speed at minimum 400mm or more (as its a flight shot). As Rakesh advised, I think higher ISO is the key for in-flight shots too.

Happy birding!

[Udai Bisht]

Thanks, Rakesh and Ranbir.

As I see it, the problem with me is that I'm always relying on Shutter Priority for in flight shots with no regard to ISO. This has to change. Need to work on Aperture Priority with FULL regard to ISO.

I'm booked at Kabini JLR on 1st and 2nd May and just can't wait to get there and try out all the suggestions and tips I've been getting.

Thanks a lot!