Bar Headed Geese

[Kiran Ghadge]

Canon 50d
Canon 100-400mm
ISO 200
Shuuter : 1/500 sec
F 7.1
Aperture Priority
Shot near Pune (Veer dam)

[Mohammed Raheel]

Nice picture,, they must be landing,, their postures are so similar,, almost identical,
the wings are spread nearly to equal span,,
the shadow on the sun is falling nearly at the same portion of their bodies
seems like its the same goose pasted at three places,,
Good clarity, the space in the left portion gives a feel they are moving ahead in the picture,,

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice shot. I liked the composition and the flying pattern. The light is good.

Look forward to more.

[Ranbir Mahapatra]

Good capture. These bar headed geese definitely make flying look so easy! I love the way the troika is precisely positioned according to the rule of third. There are some shadows, but it adds to the image, rather than take something away from it.

I would like to ask an open question to Kiran and other members of the forum:

According to Sabyasachi, the best way to photograph a bird in flight is by predicting the flight path, locking the focus and clicking at the right moment.

Kiran, fellow members, kindly let me know other techniques of capturing bird in flight pls.

My question is this: when a bird is flying in a clear sky, how to lock focus and click?

When I lock focus to recompose or to point at a predicted flight path on land, typically I lock with an object at the same distance as my subject position and recompose, all the time holding down the shutter button. I am not able to construct the steps in my camera for a bird in a clear sky. Against whom will I lock the focus, how do I estimate the distance? How will I focus without using AI Servo? Can somebody please list it down step by step.

Secondly, most of the shots of birds against sky are those reflex shots...how do you adjust the exposure bias in such a short notice? Wouldn't that affect the highlights and shadows of the overall image?

Please advice.

[Udai Bisht]

Ranbir, you have a point there. Indeed, how to pre-focus on the aniticipated path of a bird in flight with a clear sky as BG? Would love to have some clarifications from more experienced members. Regarding the exposure bias, you would have to adjust in advance. For an egret or any white bird, during afternoon, you might even have to go down as much as two steps. Of course you could check the histogram and adjust the settings more accurately for subsequent shots.

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

Everything right about this image !!!

[Rakesh Dhareshwar]

Good capture. These bar headed geese definitely make flying look so easy! I love the way the troika is precisely positioned according to the rule of third. There are some shadows, but it adds to the image, rather than take something away from it.

I would like to ask an open question to Kiran and other members of the forum:

According to Sabyasachi, the best way to photograph a bird in flight is by predicting the flight path, locking the focus and clicking at the right moment.

Kiran, fellow members, kindly let me know other techniques of capturing bird in flight pls.

My question is this: when a bird is flying in a clear sky, how to lock focus and click?

When I lock focus to recompose or to point at a predicted flight path on land, typically I lock with an object at the same distance as my subject position and recompose, all the time holding down the shutter button. I am not able to construct the steps in my camera for a bird in a clear sky. Against whom will I lock the focus, how do I estimate the distance? How will I focus without using AI Servo? Can somebody please list it down step by step.

Secondly, most of the shots of birds against sky are those reflex shots...how do you adjust the exposure bias in such a short notice? Wouldn't that affect the highlights and shadows of the overall image?

Please advice.

I have always loved shooting birds in flight and I have realised that you need lens which are light , quick and sharp . I used to use the 300f4 with TCs to achieve that . Pre focus helps you lock in faster , and I have used that technique too, but is not possible always , esp if the subject is close to you .

In my initial year of photography , I used to spend 1 hr every day , tracking common birds like Black kite, crows , etc and wste a lot of frames honing my tracking , locking and focus skills .

As far as exposure is concerned , I find spot metering is the best way to shoot wildlife , if you know what you want to meter . MAnual exposure is also a good way of doing it , but you need to lock exposure on greens and then on the bird to ensure the right exposure . ( sometimes tedious ).

[Kiran Ghadge]

@Mohammed : please see the image closely all three have different postures and wing spread. . I always enjoy taking good shots in field then manipulating. Nature is awesome, it will always give you magical moment to capture.

@Ranbir : This is too much of technical for me, I tried this technique of prefocus it works sometimes, but personally I feel its all about hand-eye coordination, also you should anticipate bird moment and flight paths. but most important as everybody says study the behavior of birds and you will make lots of good shots.

I keep my camera focus mode to continuous and partial metering (at least for flight shots)
and shoot in Raw mode to get that +- 2 advantage for better skies.

Also as Rakesh already mentioned lightweight fast focusing lenses helps a lot.
Try to search "birds in flight" on Google, you will get lots of good tips.

Let me know if you have any specific question.
Will try to post more flight shots for more discussion .

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The feet of the three are posed differently. There is adequate separation between the three. I like the composition.

Regarding AF for birds in flight, the rules are different for birds in a clear sky and birds flying through cluttered vegetation.

When you find birds in a clear sky, it is easier to focus and follow them. Focus acquisition is faster in the central AF point. Depending upon distance you can change the AF limit switch. That will reduce the lens to hunt lens and focussing will be faster. Turning the focus ring manually also helps in acquiring the focus faster. Especially in long teles, where sighting a bird becomes tough.

If you know your depth of field, the central AF is good. You can then acquire AF with the central AF point placed on the breast of the bird, or head and click when the head angle is pleasing.

Another approach is to select all the AF points. Then place the central sensor on the subject and acquire focus. Once focus is acquired, then allow the subject to gently fly ahead into the peripheral focussing points. Now you have the subject focussed and the composition you liked. Click happily. :-)

Take the case of Nelapattu. When a bird is going to land, you know the approximate distance. You can then prefocus on an opening where the flying bird is going to appear. press the shutter button when the bird is in that zone and it will come into focus. Now track the bird with the shutter button depressed. Click where you like the coposition.

For birds flying parallely in a varied background, or through vegetation, it becomes difficult to track them. It is better to keep your central AF sensor active and place it on the bird. Acquire focus by depressing the shutter button. when the bird flies behind vegetation, release your finger from the shutter button. Else, the camera will try to focus on the vegetation. Keep on tracking the bird when it is flying through the vegetation, when it comes out into the opening, again press the shutter button to start the AF.

Focus recompose technique is more for stationary subjects.

I hope I have answered your questions.

Will discuss metering in another thread.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Ranbir Mahapatra]

Rakesh, Kiran, Sabyasachi, thanks a lot for the tips.

I put to practice the first of the lot, tracking common birds near my apartment this morning. As stressed by both Kiran & Rakesh, good reflexes are important for taking the flight shots.

Sabyasachi, I am able to understand the technique you explained. Just a few clarifications.

So you are advising that its the photographer's perogative to select either central AF or all the AF points. Secondly, you are also advising that we should keep the focus mode on AI Servo and let the camera sensor do that dynamic tracking.

I have attached a scenario painting (my drawings used to better...perhaps its a Piccaso!) so that we are in sync.

To summarize, we can lock focus on the subject and track it to variable distance using AI Servo and focus limiter. Also, as advised by Kiran and Rakesh, we can use partial or spot metering based on the conditions.

Thanks again all of you!